I fully intended on going to the Chester parade and find Maryanne but I slept in!!! I wanted to finish "The Age of Innocence" and so read for about 3 hours in the middle of the night,. I guess I need my sleep more than I used to.
Anyway I enjoyed a lazy morning listening to more of my Bonhoeffer book and then I was curious about how the LDS Church fared in WW ll. Lo and behold there is a new book out about just that thing!! Then I find the same author wrote a book in 2009 about being "In Harms Way" during the war. It is on line so I liked reading about the Saints and some of their stories. I concluded you are much safer in the small towns and rural areas during a war rather than in the city, of course. I also concluded the Soviet army that took over after the war was as much, if not more dangerous, as the Nazis.. One story that interested me was this:
In the first few weeks of 1945, the members of the Danzig Branch discussed what they should do as the Red Army approached the city. Branch President Willy Horn had received a letter from Paul Langheinrich (second counselor to the mission leader in Berlin) encouraging the Saints to evacuate the city right away and head west (which some branch members had already done). From Sister Eichler’s recollection:
When Brother Horn finished reading the letter, . . . he [said that he thought that Heavenly Father would protect us from all the terrors of the war, if we had enough faith in him. . . . He asked us to form a circle with the chairs. . . . We all knelt by the chairs, and Brother Horn offered a very humble and long prayer. When he was finished, he . . . told us to trust in the Lord and to return home with peace in our hearts—all would be well. A week later we heard that some of the members did not listen to his counsel but . . . left for the west. . . . Those of us who stayed behind experienced much agony and hardship.
It would seem that Willy Horn’s inspiration may have been in error on that occasion. In reality, those who rejected his recommendation and left the city right away were spared great hardship. Those who stayed suffered. There were disagreements on the issue even between spouses. For example, Brother Eichler decided that his family should remain in Danzig, though his wife did not agree.
I think the above story illustrates the point that you should follow the direction of your leaders and not take it upon yourself to receive inspiration counter to that for those who you are serving. I think Willy Horn did a great disservice to his branch by directing them counter to what they had been advised to do.
In another escape story as a family wound themselves through tunnels the wife wanted to follow a different route than her husband. The daughter who was behind her mother told her Mom she should follow Dad as he had the Priesthood. They did and they were safe. If they had gone the other direction they would have been destroyed by fire. The daughter said it was a testimony to her to always follow the Priesthood and their instruction.
It is interesting to me that these books are being written 66 years after the happenings!!! Obviously other people are still as curious as I am about what happened in WW ll. It was obvious from the Bonhoeffer book that the people just did not know what was going on by their government and they trusted to much and gave up one freedom after another until it was too late.
Had a sweet call the other night from a boyfriend from the 50's! Nice we can still be friends after all this time. He said he has very happy memories of me. Nice to hear as I edge closer and closer to 80 years old!! Who ever thought we would be this old and still feel like '20 something' most of the time????
Oh, yes, I celebrated the birthday of America with another special burger dinner from Michael and the fireworks on the Peninsula. Unfortunately, I thought they were some of the least exciting fireworks I have ever seen! The Macy's fireworks on TV are so much more fun and with music to boot!!! Happy Birthday, America!
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