6 The First Conference

The following contains material taken from a document given to us by Edith Krause, wife of Walter Krause. It was written by Walter Krause and Walter Kindt and describes the remodeling of the Dresden chapel and the first conference held in the chapel May 4–6, 1946. The document was edited by Norma Davis.

In 1946, Elder Walter Krause was sent to Dresden. The Saints were planning a conference the first week in May, and the only branch with a possible meeting place large enough for all the GDR members was in Dresden. The members there had managed to get permission to occupy one end of a huge, three-story building that had belonged to the German army. The upper two stories were reserved for apartments, but the members could use the main floor. The entrance to this section of the building was imposing. Broad steps led to large, wooden double doors. Then there were more steps, and a turn to the right led down a long, wide hall with windows all along the left side. Some small rooms on the right would later serve as offices for the Church, and there was plumbing for restrooms. Beyond this was a very large area with two-story-high ceilings, which had served the German army as a casino. A small stage was located at one end of the hall, and there was a balcony above, where people could watch the dancers and gamblers. Several good-sized rooms led off from the main hall. They even had permission to use the basement below. A large stone porch off the casino opened up into the grounds surrounding the building. A small, concrete-lined pool lay in front of the steps leading from the porch. There was a large expanse of grass bordered by woods beyond.

It was a miracle that all of this was given to the Church for its use. But then, what could a handful of women, children, and old people be expected to do with it? The place was in ruins. The roof over the casino was gone. Rubble filled the rooms and halls. The water in the pool was black and stagnant. Brother Krause writes:

The beautiful park adjoining the building was torn up with trenches, overgrown with weeds, and covered with the desolation the war had brought with it. Gaping holes showed where window frames had been. Everything had been destroyed. . . . There was such a severe shortage of building materials that we could not get our hands on a pound of nails. But the brothers and sisters came, and together with the missionaries, we began with a prayer in our hearts.

They had eight weeks in which to get the building ready. The members had hired some professional carpenters to direct them in the work and to provide the needed manpower. When the carpenters came to look at the hall and realized that they were supposed to help this handful of women and old people to restore the building, they backed out. The task was too big, and the members didn’t look like they had any money to pay them wages anyway.

Thus we stood there alone one Saturday morning, just the brothers and sisters of the branch. Yet it was clear to us that we were a majority when we had God on our side. So we went to work more enthusiastically than ever. The walls were repaired and painted. We set in the doors and windows. Many things had to be constructed from nothing, and mountains of dirt and rubble had to be cleared away. The most difficult task was to break through a strong sandstone-block wall. We spent many hours standing by this wall trying to decide what to do. The missionaries could help us for only a few hours in the morning, because they had teaching appointments in the city. Finally, we decided we would just have to break through this wall by ourselves.

For the first few days, everything went fine. But one of the brothers kept thinking that something was not right with the wall. Why did all the professional construction workers refuse to help? Why was everyone afraid of this wall? One night, as we were sitting in our evening devotional, one brother said: “This is where we plan to hold a conference. What if that big wall came down?” And three days later the wall actually came crashing down. A missionary working on it at the time was miraculously spared, and the sisters of the Relief Society standing nearby received a strong testimony of the Lord’s help in saving them.

Now we had another mountain of rubble and stones in our large assembly room. There was nothing to do but to unite, get out the rubble, and go on. So we went to work. Sisters who were fifty or sixty years old carried out huge blocks of stone weighing forty to fifty kilograms [eighty-eight to one hundred ten pounds].

An even more difficult task lay ahead for the members. They had to replace the missing roof over the hall. They managed somehow to get the materials to do it. Even more difficult was the work it demanded of the small group:

We had to get four heavy iron beams up to support the adjoining wall. Each of these beams weighed 400 kilograms [about 880 pounds]! And we had to do it with our own inexperienced efforts. The job seemed enormous, but as usual we began by laying it before the Lord in prayer. Every evening before we went home exhausted, we met together and sang a hymn. We believed that the songs of Zion had never been sung more effectively than we sang as we finished our work late at night. It was in this spirit that the brothers and sisters prepared themselves to get those heavy beams up by themselves.

These beams were moved into the building and lifted onto the pillars through the efforts of eight women, two deacons, and two older brethren. Sister Edith Krause says that there was an iron monger there to supervise the work. They got the beams into the hall by putting one on rollers, moving it slowly forward, then taking the roller from the back and putting it ahead of the beam so that it could pass over the rollers again. She doesn’t say how they got it up the stairs in the first place. They managed to place the first two beams and were working on the third when, as Brother Krause writes,

a young deacon was supposed to remove one of the rollers from underneath the beam. Just as he grabbed hold of the roller, the brothers and sisters gave out and the whole weight of the beam, 400 kilograms, rolled right over his hand. We were all terrified at his painful scream, but we quickly lifted the beam so that he could pull out his hand. A missionary immediately took his wounded hand and said, “Come on, brother; everything will be all right. You will not have any damage from this.” The two went into the priesthood room and looked at the hand. There was a little blood, but the elder promised him that he would not loose so much as a fingernail and that he would heal perfectly.

This almost unbelievable promise actually came true. Within a short time our young brother was helping again—carrying tiles and shaking hands. There was a man who was not a member of the Church present, and he was quite shaken by this experience. The next day the construction engineer came by on some building business. While looking over the construction, he said, “One can truly say that the blessings of God are with these people and their work.” The members heard these words and were very much moved by this confirmation from an outsider.

With the help of God, work which seemed impossible was completed. And it was done with joy and harmony, something possible only to children of God. The greatest testimony and proof that we were working with the Lord was our spirit of harmony and unity during those weeks. Very often our daily ration of food for this heavy work was just 100 grams of bread [about one fourth of a pound, or four slices of good, thick bread] and a few potatoes. When we finished, we all fasted for a successful conference. We felt it a great blessing that here in this destroyed city we could now occupy these wonderful rooms.

Interior of the Dresden Chapel on Dr.-Kurt-Fischer Allee. Courtesy Manfred Heller.

Meanwhile, the conference had to be organized. Apparently, the Russian occupational government did not exercise heavy control over them at this time.

This morning, Monday the 29th of April 1946, posters with an invitation to attend a great district conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appeared on 420 bulletin boards throughout the city. They announced the general themes of the conference: “The Purpose of Man on the Earth,” “A God Who Speaks,” and “The Return of Christ.” The people of the city also found flyers inviting them to our conference when they got into the streetcars. This was the beginning of a program to bring the people of the city of Dresden the clear message of the true gospel once again. For many years, we had been terribly restricted and suppressed in this city because of the political climate [under Nazi rule]. As evidence that our posters and flyers did not fail to make an impact, there were 750 persons in attendance at the morning session of Sunday School and 780 at the general session.

Brother Krause does not indicate how many of these people were members of the Church and how many were curious visitors. Certainly, the message proposed by the flyers and posters, coming just a year and three months after the devastating bombing of Dresden, must have seemed amazing to the people of the city.

Our members and investigators were overjoyed. . . . One could see the happiness in their eyes because once again they could publicly announce the message Mormonism had for this city and for the world. Our motto, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” had become a veritable symbol for all of the members in the recent days and months because we of this city had only one desire—to be free to speak to the inhabitants concerning the truths of the gospel.

The conference was prefaced with a leadership and teacher training session at four o’clock. They began by singing an old German hymn not found in the English edition of the LDS hymnbook. It can still be found in the German edition:

Mutig, ihr Brüder, im Kampfe 
Wehet die Fahne ja noch!
Ob es auch brause und dampfe, 
Siegen, das müssen wir doch.

Zion soll herrlicher grünen, 
Ist es ja treulich gepflegt. 
Das werden Völker noch rühmen,
Da keine Ahnung sich regt.

Schelten auch feindliche Zungen,
Welche nur Gutes entweihn:
Wisst, noch ist’s keinem gelungen,
Jedem ein Liebling zu sein.

Gutes und Edles zu schaffen
Lohnet die härtesten Mühn,
Lasset uns nimmer erschlaffen
Niemals der Pflicht uns entziehn.

Chor:
Auf, frisch auf! Es muss gelingen,
Schöner lichtet sich die Bahn!
Der geheissen, hilft vollbringen,
Trauet ihm, der walten kann.

[Courage, brethren, in the battle 
The banner yet waves! 
Regardless of how furious it rages,
Victory must be ours.

Zion shall blossom as a field
If she is faithfully tended.
People yet unaware
Shall praise her.

And should enemies’ tongues mock,
And desecrate that which is good:
Know this, none has ever succeeded
Who tries to please everyone.

Good and noble work is the reward 
Of the most strenuous efforts,
Let us never slacken,
Never fail in our duty.

Chorus:
So, to work! It will succeed,
Our path is bright before us!
Put your trust in him who reigns, 
He will help us accomplish our task.]

Walter Krause reported that as they sang this beautiful hymn, “there were many eyes wet with tears of gratitude and joy and one could see how deeply our brothers and sisters were moved that now we could say that with the help of the Lord we had finally done it.”

City officials and many investigators came to the Sunday morning session, which was given in the form of a dramatic presentation by the Sunday School. By the time the general session was to begin, the newly restored hall was filled beyond its capacity. The choir was placed in the balcony and could not be seen by the congregation in the hall below. Brother Krause reports that during the congregational singing this placement “had a marvelous effect as if the angels of the Lord were singing with them.” Messages of hope were given by a people who were suffering from loss and need. They were given to visitors and members who had little to eat and were living in less than adequate conditions. The people of Dresden were still struggling to clean the rubble of the once beautiful city on the banks of the broad Elbe River. Here they sat in the casino which, until recently, had been used by the Nazi soldiers and only eight weeks ago was nothing more than a bombed-out shell. Now they looked around a hall which had been restored by a handful of people to a state which few buildings, if any, in Dresden could boast. Above them a choir sang messages of hope and joy. No wonder Brother Krause remembers the enthusiasm of the visitors:

Many appointments were made for the missionaries to visit these people in their homes, and there were many requests for copies of the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, we did not have enough on hand. We could have easily used a thousand copies of the Book of Mormon. The request for Church literature by the investigators was so strong that it was apparent that their greatest happiness this Sunday would have been to possess a Book of Mormon.

The conference was followed by a district missionary conference. Because the enthusiasm and dedication of these missionaries was so strong, the meeting which began at eight in the morning was regretfully ended at two that afternoon. No one wanted to break away from the strength, peace, and security of the conference to return to the chaos of their everyday world. That evening the Mutual Improvement Association presented some entertainment followed by a dance. The members were reminded of the spiritual and social joy made possible through the Church’s programs which they had experienced in the past. Those who were visitors must have recognized the vast contrast between what Brother Krause describes as the “dignified and virtuous” atmosphere of this evening and the previous gambling and dancing this hall had witnessed. The principal accomplishment of the conference was to strengthen and encourage the weary members.

When we sang the last song, we all had the feeling this was not the end of the conference, but only the beginning—that the conference would continue to live in our prayers and in our hearts. This feeling continued with us as we said farewell to one another at the train station with more singing. I believe it could be said that the Dresden train station had never experienced such beautiful singing throughout the terrible war or in the great confusion following the destruction of the city. So we had a joyful parting as the last members boarded the trains for their homes in Cottbus, Leipzig, and Naumburg.

The people standing about were amazed and asked, “Who are these people?” Our missionaries could answer, “We are Mormons. People with the same ration cards you have, but we are happy, very happy.” And we could enthusiastically sing at the train station, “I might be envied by a king, for I am a Mormon boy.” This was the most beautiful payment of fulfillment and satisfaction for the members of the Dresden Branch for all their sorrow and heavy labor.