22 Time to Put Out the Lights?

Reiner Schlüter, a medical doctor, is a member of the Dresden Ward. Elke Schlüter, his wife, is the daughter of Herbert and Ilse Kaden (see chapter 16). Shortly before the missionaries arrived and after years of practicing medicine, the Schlüters received their first telephone. Five years later, we interviewed them in their large, new home furnished with all the latest appliances. They have two children and have served in a multitude of callings in the Church.

Reiner: I am now forty-three years old, and when I look back, I can say that I must thank the Church and the Lord for the entire development of my life, so far as it has gone. I had the good fortune to be born into a family that had already been acquainted with the Church. My mother was the first to be baptized by the missionaries, and my father made the same decision somewhat later, after I was born. I can remember very clearly when our family moved to Dresden in 1957. I was already in school, and then in 1958 the question of baptism came up. At that time, we were baptized in a stream called the Briesnitz. There was a deep pool, and all the members came there to hold their baptisms. Interestingly, I was baptized on the same day as my wife. That indicates that the branch in Dresden at that time had some family unity. As far as I know, there were no convert baptisms, but the families were relatively strong, and all of the family members were baptized. In any case, everything went its normal course.

The parents had developed a rhythm to their life in which attending church on Sunday was normal, as well as Primary during the week and then later MIA for the young people. As young people, we were together a lot, and those were beautiful times, especially when we had the youth conferences where the young members from the entire mission came together and had common experiences.

Of course, these activities were not without their problems. The Church was merely tolerated in the GDR. It was certainly not encouraged. Everything that we did had to be done in harmony with the laws of the land. Meetings had to be reported. When a large group of young people were together in the Church building, the State authorities automatically assumed it to be some sort of political activity, so we were carefully watched.

As young people, we didn’t take all this too seriously, but the priesthood leaders in those days had a heavy responsibility. On the one hand, they had to direct the young people and get them together. On the other hand, they always had to have a corresponding relationship with the State authorities. That was no easy matter, and it is truly admirable how in those days Brother Burkhardt, Brother Krause, Brother Richter, and the other leaders could handle these matters. I am still very thankful today for those times.

The Schlüter family. Elke Schlüter, James Welch (visiting organist from the United States), Susen Schlüter, Kay Schlüter, and Reiner Schlüter. Dresden, November 1991. Courtesy Reiner Schlüter.

As far as my personal relationship to the Church is concerned, that was not so uncomplicated either. Anyone who wanted to begin a course of study leading to a profession, or change a profession, or attend a university—anyone who wanted to receive a higher education—could not allow himself or herself to speak in public about the Church—at school, for example. That would have destroyed any chance for further education.

I was personally very fortunate, or I should say I was greatly blessed by the directing hand of my Father in Heaven, that I was permitted to get through my high-school studies and graduate without having to participate in many activities of the political youth organizations. And this continued when it came to my university studies. There are some things that, when we look at them superficially, seem to be nothing more than accidental. But in reality it was certainly the hand and intervention of our Father in Heaven, at least in my case.

When I began school, it was stipulated that on admission I was supposed to choose a trade—to become a pipe fitter for the railroad—and to study a language, Polish or something like that. But that all came to nothing, and I was able to go to another school and study mechanics and get a diploma. I wanted to go to medical school, but there were no openings in the medical field, so I had to begin my professional studies training to be a dentist. After two years, there were some new regulations, some health reasons or something; anyway, I was able to switch to a study of medicine. I do not believe this was all accidental.

So life went on. We made friendships in the Church. When I was sixteen, I became acquainted with my wife. Our friendship developed, and we both felt that it was because of Church that we understood one another. After we got to know one another well, we decided to marry. This was all a direct result of the fact that families in the various branches got very personally acquainted. Everyone watched out for everyone else. We got to know one another. Those were beautiful times but also difficult times. Some things were hard to understand.

The lesson manuals in the Church, for example, had to be copied off on a typewriter. Whenever a Church book other than the standard works got into the country, it was considered a great blessing and made us very happy. The spiritual relationships we had with one another were better. Material things were clearly pushed into the background. I cannot say that I personally ever felt any disadvantage from my membership in the Church. I had only advantages. I learned to speak out; I learned to be a leader. These things were a great advantage to me in my professional life.

When the political change [the fall of the Wall] came, it seemed a great miracle to us, but the change brought with it special experiences and possibilities. Before the fall of the Wall, the people were very hungry to learn about spiritual things. They were all searching and were very open to questions about the gospel. This was especially true when in 1985 the temple was dedicated and we held an open house to which tens of thousands of people came, after standing in line. We had the opportunity to serve as hosts on the temple grounds, to have countless conversations, to get addresses of people who were interested, and to explain the Church. That gave us a great deal of pride and joy. Somewhat later, when the political changes were complete, this enthusiasm ebbed somewhat. But right at the time of the big change, 1989–90, we had 150 baptisms in our ward. There were, of course, many people looking for something who were not really firm and later fell away from the Church.

There is no doubt that it is much easier to be a member of the Church now because we don’t have to be so cautious. In our own circle, we can talk openly about the Church. That is a great advantage, and we treasure it. In spite of all this, as I have said, we like to think back on those times, the way things used to be, how we were strengthened and led by the gospel so that we could overcome those difficult times. At any rate, those are my experiences before the political change and my impressions of the way things are now.

My assignments in the Church in those days were important, and I performed them gladly. But I believe it makes little difference what calling one has at any time. The important thing is that one has the feeling one can be of service and benefits by this service, whether as a teacher in Sunday School, the song leader, or whatever. It makes no difference.

I was relatively young when they made me the Sunday School president, a calling that had heavy responsibilities. At the time, we also had Junior Sunday School, so we had a double organization, a lot of teachers, a lot of classes, opening exercises with two-and-one-half-minute talks, song practice, and special programs such as on Mothers’ Day and Christmas. All of that had to be organized by the Sunday School president. Those were beautiful times. I was only eighteen; I remember it well. And all of this contributed a lot to my profession because I learned leadership skills. This experience was very important for me. In later years, I was a teacher, song leader, director of the branch chorus. Later I was a counselor in the branch presidency.

G. Davis: I get the impression that many members in the ward here have musical talent. There are several who play the organ. Is that something unusual here in Dresden?

Reiner: No, I don’t think so. We made sure that many members took piano lessons or sang in the choir, but I don’t think that was unusual. I don’t think we have so many, but there are several families where music instruction is emphasized. And, of course, we took advantage of the public programs. There were the public music schools, where piano instructions were given. Of course, they didn’t study church music, but that could be done in the family.

G. Davis: But it was unusual for a member to be able to attend the university. In America we always heard that one had to be a member of the party in order to attend the university. Is that right?

Reiner: I conscientiously avoided the party, and I went to the university anyway. Of course, I have to add, we could not come out against the State. That would have been unthinkable. We would never have had a chance. And we had to at least give the appearance of doing one’s duty for the State. That would be recognized, but at the same time it was recognized if one was a Christian. It made no difference if one was a member of a church whose headquarters was in America or of any other church.

In my professional career as a doctor, it was assumed I would have certain administrative responsibilities. For that reason, they came to me and said that if I would become a member of the party [Communist Party] I would have a chance to advance to these administrative posts. Of course, I declined, and they knew exactly why. Without going into detail, I can say that I was watched very carefully. But in the later years of the GDR, say after 1984, after we had the temple, they trusted in the people who were Christian or who belonged to a church a little more. There was a clear tendency in that direction. As a result, even though I could not officially assume an administrative position, as I have said, I was unofficially given full administrative responsibilities. That was, of course, somewhat contradictory. On paper I was not permitted to do what I was actually doing, which was acceptable. It was all officially recognized. I had no fears.

G. Davis: Let me ask you about another matter. In 1988, as you know, the Church came to an agreement with State Secretary Erick Honnecker to allow the Church to open a mission here. That allowed young people to leave the country to serve a mission elsewhere for the first time in fifty years. I have heard criticism that the Church ought not to have done this because it was compromising and working with the Communists. What do you think of this?

Reiner: It was very important to make compromises at that time, or we could never have had the development we had with any security. The way it was done was the right way. In addition, I believe that such compromises actually hastened the political changes. For the Church in this part of Germany, the willingness to make compromises was the only way these things could be possible. And the results have shown this was right. I would give my approval to this procedure any time. Without question. To have taken a hard line would have made it much more difficult for the members of the Church to do anything.

It should be understood that this willingness to compromise was not done by the State only out of the goodness of their hearts. They could see the economic benefit to them just as we could see the spiritual benefit to us. They could see that we could build chapels with hard currency and that they would naturally benefit in some ways from that. On the other hand, what the Church officials told the government at that time was not unknown to them. We members of the Church had gained a reputation in our own society as people who could be relied upon, as people one could look up to, as a people who did not need to be restricted merely because of their religious philosophy. Those who performed their church service loyally were seen as people who were reliable citizens of the State. And there was no contradiction in that. Oh, in the early years of the communist state, that might have been seen as a contradiction. But the part that was unbearable was the spying and the tricks. For many people, that was just too much.

But our Church was composed of reliable people. The State officials were more afraid of other religious organizations where the leadership can exert less control. Certain parts of the Evangelical Church, for example, where the reform movement is particularly encouraged. But political reform only has little to do with religion. That is simple political engagement.

I accept the Article of Faith given by Joseph Smith that tells us to be subject to rulers and magistrates. I still accept it today as we are moving in a more democratic direction. Of course, there were exceptions, and I don’t want to say that everything that glittered in the GDR was gold, but I did find this decision at that time to be the correct one. I have no criticism on this point whatever.

G. Davis: You said that the consequences prove the rightness of the decision?

Reiner: The consequences have proven it. I would say that, yes. Of course, at the time, one could not see the consequences. We didn’t think, “Now the members will be able to travel out of the country.” That was a very important issue for us, to be able to travel. It’s probably not possible for you to understand what it was like to never be able to travel, to see that stupid “no” whenever we wanted to get out, to escape from this imprisonment—we placed a lot of hope on that.

G. Davis: But most of the members stayed, even if they had the opportunity to emigrate. I believe most of them said, “No, we are supposed to stay here and build up the Church.” Were there problems concerning emigration among the members?

Reiner: On this matter, I do not want to generalize. There was a particular time for me when this question was connected to my profession, in 1988, 1989. Things were reaching the point economically where many were certainly saying to themselves, “I have a responsibility to my children and cannot guarantee that my roots will remain here.” There were certainly cases where raising this question was justified. We had discussed this in our family and, right or wrong, there was this saying going around that maybe it was time to “put out the lights” in the GDR. It would be wrong for me to say now that this question did not come up in our family. It wasn’t just a personal decision. We had the responsibility for our family and our children. Under what conditions would they grow up? We haven’t talked about these things yet, about how socialistic the educational system was and such fine points. At some time, one had to make a decision. Nowadays this decision doesn’t have so much to do with the Church, but back then it could divide you in half.

And, of course, there were some families who emigrated, families who belonged to the Church. And I must say that the Church at the present could have been much, much stronger if these families were still here. And I don’t mean only the parents, but the entire family. It’s too bad they finally made the decision to get out. But, personally, I must say if that was the decision they came to then I accept it. That is, I would never say what they did was not right. That is something hard to evaluate, and I would never feel so confident of myself that I could say whether he or she should have stayed or not. There were also cases I could point to where families came back.

G. Davis: This problem was more acute in the 1950s and ’60s, and just before the Wall went up, was it not?

Reiner: Yes, there were many who emigrated then, but I was just a little boy. My parents were faced with the question and decided not to emigrate to America because of the illness of my older brother. At that time, the question of emigration was always connected with America, and this wave of emigration today is something quite different. Emigration was not encouraged by the Church. On the contrary, the leaders of the Church told us our place was here; we should stick it out somehow. But I would not like to brag because we stuck it out for so long. There are always personal circumstances where one says, “Yes, it is best that we stay here.”

G. Davis: In general, the Church went on its normal course here during these years, did it not? I mean with Relief Society, priesthood blessings for the sick, youth conferences, and so on.

Reiner: Yes. Yes. The only thing which made it almost impossible was the question When will we have a temple? When will we be able to make the covenants? That was the great desire of our hearts. But then it finally came. The temple came, and then everyone had to reflect, “Am I worthy to go into the temple?” That is the problem. When one finally has everything, one sees it all in a different light.

G. Davis: What are your fondest memories from your youth when you were growing up in the Church?

Reiner: My fondest memories, on the one hand, are of my family. I come from a good family. There were six of us, four children. The foundation of our family was that we had a lot of happiness; we felt secure, mother had time for us, and father guided us. Those were the dominating things. As far as the Church was concerned, it was that, in spite of what I must call economically complicated times, it was the Church that could organize activities which were quite different from the activities of the Free German Youth organization or other State youth organizations. The Church activities were unique; there was a possibility to break out. Those are the fondest memories I have brought with me from my youth in the Church.

But I don’t mean only the big things. There were also small things. When we put on plays, for example, in the branch. Sometimes we had a production that required fifteen parts. That was a big undertaking and quite an experience when we were able to do it, when it was uplifting and brought us so much joy. We had to spend a lot of time at this, but one never forgets those times—times when you put in so much effort and something good comes out of it. We put on fairy tales and Christmas plays. Then we did The Prince and the Pauper and The Flying Carpet. Those were marvelous things.

But we did fun things that went beyond the branch. We had a mission youth choir in the GDR in those days. It was no competition for the Tabernacle Choir, but there was a lot of enthusiasm there. We had some professional musicians who worked over the music so that it was singable, and then we copied off the notes and made multiple copies. This mission youth choir—that was something.