Papa's Plight

My children, as well as many friends, have asked me, “why were you in South America?” To answer that question, I will have to take you to Germany.

My father, ”Papa”, was born in Landau, Germany in 1911. His life, from the beginning, was quite harsh and frightening. He has told stories of airplanes shooting at their house and being afraid of going near the train station because the communists had taken it over and there was a lot of gunfire. The battles that were occurring and the general hardships of the time, made life difficult, especially for a five or six year old boy.

Papa’s parents had become divorced, and Papa was awarded to his father while his sister went with his mother. The situation was very difficult because of Papa’s father’s job. He was a baker and having to be at work at 2:30 A.M. left little time to watch after Papa.

Because Papa was not being attended to properly, he found himself on the streets of Munich rather that in kindergarten (he was very often found at the horse stables playing with the horses rather than attending school). I do not recall any stories Papa told about playing with other boys, or having toys, so perhaps the times he was with the horses were the only times that he could be happy as a child.

Papa tells us that when he was about eight years old, his father took him to a man at a train station, gave him a little bag with some cherries, and said good-bye. He had never seen the man before, but he was to become his guardian, as his father was not able to work and to take care of Papa. .

The man, his guardian, took Papa and two other boys, and placed them in a Catholic boarding school. Papa was not able to see his mother from that time for three or four years.

Life in the boarding school was very hard and very strict. The meals consisted of a half slice of bread, a potato and some barley coffee. The school lessons were also very strict and severe. Whenever Papa made mistakes, and they were more than a few, he would be whipped with a stick. When the whistle blew they were to respond quickly, and if they were not quick enough, they had to run up and down a rather long distance eight or ten times.

It was at that boarding house where his mother “rescued” him and took him in to her house. However, the stay with his mother was short lived, as his step-father was not in agreement with taking Papa into their home.

After leaving his mother’s home , Papa lived with other relatives, trying to find a vocation that suited him. He tried learning to be a tailor and he tried to learn to be a baker, but as a teen-ager of about sixteen years neither choice was easy. He ended up as a baker, and an excellent one at that.

For the next couple of years Papa wandered around the country working at whatever jobs he could find (mainly, Papa wanted to roam around Germany and was not really wanting to settle for a career). It was at that time, when Papa was eighteen, that he entered the Bruderhof. (The Bruderhof is a community of Christian believers very similar to Hutterians).

Papa thought that he had found, at last, what he had been searching for his entire life. Up to that time, the only “Christianity” he had ever witnessed was in the strict and severe Catholic boarding school. Papa was instantly drawn to the people that were to become his family for the rest of his life.

On January 14, 1930 Papa entered the Bruderhof In Rhoen, Germany, but it was not long before the political atmosphere in Germany became, not only difficult, but also dangerous for any person that did not follow the dictates of Adolph Hitler!

Pressures were being exerted on the small community to put Nazi teachers into their school. Of course, that could never be done by the community. On November 16, 1933, one hundred forty men all SS and Gestapo, surrounded the community, searched the entire compound, read many personal correspondences, and finally left, having taken many books, letters, and personal papers.

It became obvious that it would not be safe to stay in Germany, especially for the young men that were of military age. Also they became aware that if they were to have a school they would have to allow the Nazi’s to bring in their own teachers. The threat of that happening caused the Bruderhof to smuggle all their students out of Germany.

The Nazi teacher did come, but the students had all safely escaped to Switzerland.

As Hitler’s influence grew, the political situation in Germany became more serious, especially as the pressures grew toward the Bruderhof, it became evident that all the men of military age would have to flee the country.

Papa, along with two other men departed Germany riding bicycles. The three men began their flight at midnight, each with a loaf of bread and some sausage. They cycled all night hoping to find their way to Liechtenstein. In the morning they came to a village where the townspeople were all marching to a war memorial. Papa and his friends walked behind them several yards until the people turned a corner. Taking a deep breath the three men got back on their bicycles and continued their journey. The same thing occurred two more times. The fact that no one called out to them or bothered them at all was quite an amazing thing in the least.

The three men were very tired, but they were all determined to reach the safety of the Alm Bruderhof. After many more hours of “ how much farther” and “oh ,about twenty minutes” ,or “oh, about half an hour”, finally the light of Alm appeared in the valley! What a relief they felt! They coasted downhill to the railroad station and then on to their destination. Though they were exhausted from the arduous trek, and the many hours of strenuous pedaling, , they arrived . They were very tired, but they were safe.