TRAPPED BY THE GESTAPO

Some time afterward Brother Wozniak lived through an unforgettable experience. Let him tell it himself: “It was the beginning of June 1941. To strengthen the brothers living near Charleroi, I went there by bicycle, arriving at the home of Brother Hankus at Couillet to stay for the night. It had been arranged that in case of danger I should go up to the attic and from there to the roof and escape by passing from one house to another.

“At seven the next morning I was awakened by the words, ‘Open up!’ I looked out the window and saw three men in civilian clothes—it was the Gestapo! Half dressed, trousers and jacket on my arm, I hurriedly climbed the stairway leading to the attic. I hid myself as best I could between the roof and the false ceiling of the attic. It was in the nick of time because the Gestapo agents were soon in the attic. Seeing nobody, they went downstairs and asked Brother Hankus where I was. As he gave no reply, they started to beat him. My heart was pounding so strongly that it seemed to me to be audible.

“I prayed to Jehovah for them to be blinded. Unbelievable but true, they searched the entire house from the cellar to the attic, accompanied by Brother Hankus, without their ever seeing me! Finally, they found my bicycle and my bag, and they gave Brother Hankus a terrible beating, but he stayed strong and did not give me away. Then two of the agents took the brother off to prison.

“The other agent stayed in the house, revolver at the ready, guarding Sister Hankus. Every two hours the guard was changed. As for me, I was under the tiles; it was hot and I was hungry and especially thirsty. Around midday I heard a voice saying softly: ‘Come down now, they’ve gone!’ I almost left my hideout to go downstairs, since everything was so quiet, but decided to stay put. Later on, the sister told me that it had been the voice of the agent, trying to trick me into giving myself away.”

ESCAPE AT LAST

Darkness fell, and Brother Wozniak became extremely thirsty. He relates: “I was also very tired and afraid of falling asleep because I was a heavy sleeper and often snored noisily. In my uncomfortable position, to go to sleep and snore would have led to my discovery. To keep awake, I kept pricking myself with a pin until I bled; but finally I felt my strength leaving me and I thought all was lost.

“Around midnight the sister was allowed to go to bed. She managed to bring me some bread and water, and I told her of my plan to escape. From her bedroom window I got onto the flat roof and then let myself slide down the drainpipe. Finally, after a 12-foot jump, I landed in the garden. It was impossible to go any farther then, because I would have been stopped by a patrol. So I hid while awaiting daybreak.

“In the morning I saw a woman in her garden. As I asked her for some water I could see fear written all over her face. However, she got me some water, some soap and a razor. As I was barefoot, I asked her to buy me a pair of slippers. Next, an interested person came and informed me that the Gestapo had finally left that morning at seven, taking my bicycle with them. But I was given Brother Hankus’ cycle in place of mine, and off I went like a shot to Brother Brzoska’s home, where I received a book bag and a Bible. After sleeping a day and a night, off I went to the next congregation.”

SUDDEN CHANGE IN PLANS

When Brother Wozniak arrived there, he went to the home of Brother Albin Glowacz to stay during the visit. “It had been arranged that I stay a week with him,” said Brother Wozniak, “but I couldn’t get to sleep that night; I just tossed and turned.” A change in plans came to mind, as he relates: “At breakfast, I told the brother that I intended leaving that same day for Carnières, the next congregation to be visited. He tried to get me to change my mind, even mentioning the good food available, wheat bread and butter, something really inviting at the time. However, nothing could make me change my mind, and I left for Carnières.

“The next day I was horrified to learn that the Gestapo had arrived that same morning at the home of Brother Glowacz and had taken him off to prison, with the concentration camps as the final destination! How glad I was that I had not allowed myself to be tempted with the good bread and butter! One thing was certain: Gestapo agents were at my heels. I would have to try to put them off the track.

“I returned to Antwerp, but there I learned that our room had been put under seal, that the homeowner’s wife, interested in the truth, had been taken away by the Gestapo and that the proprietor was obliged to denounce me to the Gestapo as soon as I arrived. Things were getting worse there too; it was necessary to leave Antwerp immediately.

“So I left for Limburg to visit the congregations. Two hours after my departure from Waterschei where I had stayed, the Gestapo broke into the house and searched everywhere. The situation was worsening fast. They were out to get me, apparently guided by the demons.”

BROTHER FLORYN FALLS INTO A TRAP

The same day that Brother Wozniak left, after Brother Hankus’ arrest, Brother Floryn, who was the contact man, arrived by bicycle at Brother Hankus’ home with 400 booklets and 24 books. It was June 7, 1941. Because her husband had just been arrested, Sister Hankus begged the brother to leave as soon as possible. He left, taking Brother Wozniak’s shoes with him to leave them elsewhere. He should have continued on to Brother Glowacz’ home, but, in view of these events, he returned to his home in Brussels the same day, tired out.

Arriving home, he learned that the Gestapo had searched the house and had taken away all the publications that had been hidden: 20 Bibles, 500 books and 4,000 booklets. His wife and parents-in-law had been kept under guard all day. He had fallen into the trap. At five the next morning the Gestapo turned up and took him away, handcuffed. He went off to prison and then on to the German concentration camps until the end of the war. His wife was to join him a year later, having to leave their two small children in the care of her parents.

A month after that series of arrests, Brother Hartstang arrived secretly from Holland in order to reorganize the preaching work. At the home of a sister in Antwerp, he held a private meeting with the three circuit overseers and two brothers who looked after the contacts. This sister lived alone on the ground floor, and on this occasion these six brothers came to within a hairbreadth of being arrested by the Gestapo. How was that?

During the meeting the bell rang, and who stood there? Three Gestapo agents! They inquired about a Jew and his son who were supposed to be living on the second floor. The sister told them that the Jews had fled at the outbreak of war. One of the agents now stood guard at the entrance while the other two searched every corner of the upstairs and attic.

Meanwhile, the brothers prayed that Jehovah might blind the eyes of the enemy. Had they been discovered it would have meant that all the principal overseers in Belgium would have been arrested in one swoop. But Jehovah did not permit that. The Gestapo departed, and so did the brothers, one by one, never to return to that home. Two weeks later the Gestapo returned unexpectedly, and this time they searched the entire house.

ENEMY EFFORTS TO HUNT DOWN BROTHER HARTSTANG

Although Brother Hartstang came alone at the outset of his stay in Belgium, his wife joined him six months later. She arrived in the same manner: by cycle along the unbeaten country roads of the Belgo-Hollandish border. She was by his side all through the war, except when he had to make especially dangerous trips.

In no time at all, the Gestapo found out about Brother Hartstang’s presence in Belgium and started to hunt him down. The enemy had obtained information about the general whereabouts of the brother and his wife through a confiscated letter. Equipped with large photographs of the couple, the Gestapo searched everywhere, just as is done when trying to capture a dangerous criminal. But the brother and his wife always escaped the traps set for them, sometimes only in the nick of time. Yes, somehow they were kept safe.

Interestingly, the chief of the Gestapo who was previously mentioned as initiating heavy persecution of the Witnesses, and who was determined to trap Brother Hartstang, was sitting by the window of his office one day and heard the drone of an airplane engine. Thinking it was a German plane, he took no precautions. Suddenly the plane’s machine guns opened fire and the Gestapo chief was hit and killed. The airplane happened to be British, piloted by a Belgian.