Roger P. Minert, “ Braunschweig Branch, Hanover District,” in Under the Gun: West German and Austrian Latter-day Saints in World War II (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 194.
A city of cultural and political importance for centuries, Braunschweig was also home to a branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1939. There were officially seventy-one Saints registered when World War II approached, but only nine were priesthood holders, and the official list of branch officers bears but one name: Willi Wille (district president) as the acting branch president.
|
Braunschweig Branch[1] |
1939 |
|
Elders |
2 |
|
Priests |
3 |
|
Teachers |
0 |
|
Deacons |
4 |
|
Other Adult Males |
13 |
|
Adult Females |
39 |
|
Male Children |
6 |
|
Female Children |
4 |
|
Total |
71 |
The directory of the West German Mission indicates that a home worship service was held each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at Gördelingerstrasse 18 (third floor).[2] It is not known precisely who lived at that address (presumably a member of the Church), and no eyewitnesses from the branch can be found as of this writing.
The following members of the Braunschweig Branch did not survive World War II:
Gustav Braun b. Schneiderin, Gerdauen, Ostpreußen, 9 Sep 1865; son of Gottfried Braun and Louise Groneberg; bp. 19 Aug 1924; conf. 19 Aug 1924; ord. deacon 21 Jun 1925; ord. teacher 11 Aug 1926; ord. priest 29 Apr 1928; ord. elder 24 Oct 1937; m. Amalie Wilhelmine Holzstein 26 Dec 1898; d. Braunschweig 11 Jan 1945. (FHL microfilm 68809, no. 4; IGI)
Elizabeth Glorius b. Lenterode, Heiligenstadt, Sachsen, 27 Dec 1882; dau. of Fieligg Glorius and Elizabeth Müller; bp. 26 Jul 1921; conf. 26 Jul 1921; d. pulmonary tuberculosis 15 Feb 1943 (FHL microfilm 68809, no. 24; IGI)
Paul Albert Gottlieb Janitschke b. Nowawes, Teltow, Brandenburg, 3 May 1869; son of Heinrich Janitschke and Emilie Bertholt; bp. 11 Aug 1928; conf. 11 Aug 1928; ord. deacon 11 Nov 1928; m. Antone Knebel 21 Jul 1917; d. dropsy 24 Jul 1943 (FHL microfilm 68809, no. 30)
Elli Lotz b. Braunschweig, 19 May 1919; dau. of Sophie Berta Sprenger; adopted by Conrad Lotz; bp. 26 Jun 1930; conf. 26 Jun 1930; m. Walter Veit 28 Mar 1939; d. childbed fever 4 Sep 1939 (FHL microfilm 68809, no. 39)
Anna Wilhelmine Wagner b. Steinkunzendorf, Reichenbach, Schlesien, 16 Aug 1866; dau. of August Wagner and Johanne Christiane Neumann; bp. 4 Aug 1914; conf. 4 Aug 1914; d. 5 Jun 1941 (FHL Microfilm 68809, no. 32)