Because my brothers and I steadfastly refused to heil Hitler, Father was summoned to appear in court. He was asked to sign a document renouncing his faith. The document also stated that he would rear his children according to Nazi ideology. Because he refused to sign, he and Mother lost custody of us children, and I was sent to a reeducation facility some 25 miles (40 km) from home.

I soon felt terribly homesick, and I cried a lot. Meanwhile, the governess tried to force me to join the Hitler Youth, but in vain. Other girls tried to hold my right arm up during the salute of the Nazi flag, but they did not succeed. I felt as did God’s servants of old who stated: “It is unthinkable, on our part, to leave Jehovah so as to serve other gods.”​—Joshua 24:16.

My parents were prohibited from visiting me. They did, however, find ways to meet me clandestinely on my way to school and at school. Those short meetings encouraged me greatly to stay faithful to Jehovah. At one such meeting, Father gave me a small Bible, which I carefully hid in my bed. How I enjoyed reading it, even though I had to do so in secret! Indeed, one day I almost got caught, but I quickly hid the Bible under my blanket.

Off to a Convent

Since all efforts to reeducate me had failed, the authorities suspected that I was still under my parents’ influence. Hence, in September 1942, they sent me by train to Munich, Germany, where I was put into a Catholic school called Adelgunden, which was also a convent. During the transfer, nuns saw my Bible and confiscated it.

Because my brothers and I steadfastly refused to heil Hitler, Father was summoned to appear in court. He was asked to sign a document renouncing his faith. The document also stated that he would rear his children according to Nazi ideology. Because he refused to sign, he and Mother lost custody of us children, and I was sent to a reeducation facility some 25 miles (40 km) from home.

I soon felt terribly homesick, and I cried a lot. Meanwhile, the governess tried to force me to join the Hitler Youth, but in vain. Other girls tried to hold my right arm up during the salute of the Nazi flag, but they did not succeed. I felt as did God’s servants of old who stated: “It is unthinkable, on our part, to leave Jehovah so as to serve other gods.”​—Joshua 24:16.

My parents were prohibited from visiting me. They did, however, find ways to meet me clandestinely on my way to school and at school. Those short meetings encouraged me greatly to stay faithful to Jehovah. At one such meeting, Father gave me a small Bible, which I carefully hid in my bed. How I enjoyed reading it, even though I had to do so in secret! Indeed, one day I almost got caught, but I quickly hid the Bible under my blanket.

Off to a Convent

Since all efforts to reeducate me had failed, the authorities suspected that I was still under my parents’ influence. Hence, in September 1942, they sent me by train to Munich, Germany, where I was put into a Catholic school called Adelgunden, which was also a convent. During the transfer, nuns saw my Bible and confiscated it.

Nevertheless, I was determined to remain faithful to my beliefs, and I refused to attend church services. When I told one of the nuns that my parents used to read the Bible to me on Sundays, her response surprised me. She gave me back my Bible! Evidently, what I had said touched her heart. In fact, she even let me read the Bible to her.

On one occasion, a teacher said to me: “Hermine, you are blonde, and you have blue eyes. You are Germanic, not Jewish. Jehovah is the God of the Jews.”

“But,” I replied, “Jehovah made everything. He is the Creator of us all!”

The headmaster too tried to pressure me. On one occasion, he said: “Look, Hermine, one of your brothers has joined the army. What a fine example for you to follow!” I knew that one of my brothers had joined the army, but I had no intention of following his example.

“I am not a follower of my brother,” I said. “I am a follower of Jesus Christ.” The headmaster then threatened to send me to a psychiatric ward, even instructing a nun to get ready to take me there. However, he did not carry out his threat.

In the summer of 1943, Munich was bombed and children from Adelgunden were moved to the countryside. During that time I often reflected on Mother’s words to me: “Should we ever be separated and you do not even receive my letters, remember that Jehovah and Jesus will be with you. They will never abandon you. So keep on praying.”

Allowed to Go Home

In March 1944, I was taken back to Adelgunden, where we spent nearly all our time​—night and day—​in the air-raid shelter because of the intense bombing of Munich. In the meantime, my parents regularly requested that I be returned to them. That request was finally granted, and I arrived home at the end of April 1944.

When the time came to say good-bye to the headmaster, he said: “Write to us when you get home, Hermine. And stay the way you are.” What a change in attitude!