Jennifer Heckmann of Heidelberg, Germany, has been a member of the Church all her life. Her grandparents lived in Germany throughout World War II, and Jennifer has heard their stories of those difficult times. However, until recently, she never thought much about the German Latter-day Saints and what they experienced from 1939 to 1945. Judith Sartowski of Demmin, Germany, joined the Church in 2005. Her grandparents were driven from their homes in East Germany at the end of the war. Until recently, Judith did not know that thousands of Church members were evicted from their homes in the same region of Germany and never allowed to return. Zach Alleman of Houston, Texas, served in the Germany Frankfurt Mission, where he attended Church meetings in beautiful buildings in nice neighborhoods. He did not know at the time that during the war, German Latter-day Saints met in rented rooms in backstreet locations (many of which were destroyed) or in members’ apartments.

These three and several other student research assistants have had their eyes opened to a very different place and time in LDS Church history through their involvement in a program designed by Professor Roger P. Minert. The experiences of the Latter-day Saints in Germany during the years 1939–45 have never been documented, despite the large number of people involved and the remarkable experiences they had. Professor Minert’s goal is to write a history based upon the testimonies of hundreds of the 13,600 members of the Church who lived in Germany and Austria during World War II.

Professor Minert’s team is currently pursuing this goal in the form of two books—one devoted to the former East German Mission headquartered in Berlin and the second to the former West German Mission based in Frankfurt am Main. More than twenty student researchers have been busy since 2005 collecting documents; conducting eyewitness interviews; searching the holdings of the Church History Library; archiving literature, photographs, and letters; editing text, and performing numerous other research functions. Thanks to their support, In Harm’s Way: East German Latter-day Saints in World War II has been completed and is scheduled for release by the Religious Studies Center in September 2009.

A list of German Saints who died during the war years will be included in both books. The genealogical details of more than one thousand of them are attached to the chapters featuring their respective home branches. With this data, it will be possible to assess the losses suffered by the Church among the German members.

Many of the documents included in the study were written in German, and many of the more than four hundred interviews conducted were done in the German language. The research team currently includes five students: Jennifer conducts interviews in German and English; Judith process those interviews and edits the Memorial Book; Zach identifies and locates eyewitnesses; Mary Wade of McCall, Idaho is the archivist and text editor; Casidy A. Andersen of Dammeron Valley, Utah, provides computer support and manages the Web site; and Ashley Jones of Boise, Idaho, coordinates communications with eyewitnesses and team members from Professor Minert’s office.

While gathering data for these two books, Professor Minert’s research assistants have been privy to the personal experiences and feelings of faithful members of the Church. The stories the survivors tell reveal the spiritual challenges and physical sufferings of people who in general did not support the National Socialist government or a war of aggression. How they survived in such unfavorable circumstances is portrayed in the books in their own words and photographs, many of which have never before been published. Professor Minert and his team hope that the books will be not only an exceptional record of the German Latter-day Saints, but also a source of inspiration and hope for those who read their stories.