I met O. Hakan Palm,
author of Surviving Hitler, in Stockholm in September
2013, as Deseret Book was putting finishing editorial touches on his
parents’ incredible story. My purpose then wasn’t to
write their story but the author’s for Church News.
Our two-hour interview
hinted at something remarkable, but it wasn’t until I recently
read the book that I understood exactly what Palm was talking about.
The book’s
subtitle, The Unlikely True Story of an SS Soldier and a Jewish
Woman, couldn’t be more accurate, unlikely and true
being the operative words. Many aspects of Gustav and Agnes
Palm’s story seem impossibly horrible or incredibly miraculous,
yet they did happen.
That the two ended up
meeting and marrying and becoming members of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is absolutely unlikely.
The
author strung together his parents’ stories from extensive
interviews with them and others, along with research, letters, and
journals. The photo in the final chapter, with many of their 125
descendants — members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints — goes beyond proof.
The alternating voices
of Agnes and Gustav start with their personal histories, in their own
words (translated from the original Swedish). The text is
interspersed with boxes providing historical context of what was
going on concurrently as Hitler tightened his stranglehold on Europe.
As a family history
speckled with personal reminiscences, Surviving Hitler is well
done; as a true story of survival — physical, mental, and
spiritual — it’s truly impressive.
Agnes, born in 1919,
was living a privileged life in Hungary when her family was forced
into the ghetto in 1944, and then sent to a concentration camp.
Although she’d been baptized Catholic, her Jewish descent made
her a target.
Gustav, born in 1922,
in Norway, was living on his family’s farm near the border of
Sweden when he was tricked into joining the Nationalist Socialist
Party at 27, and found himself in the role of prison guard under
German officers. He would later be the prisoner.
Agnes provides a
detailed account of conditions and work detail at the Auschwitz,
Birkenau, and Bremen camps after her parents perished, while Gustav
describes grisly war scenes he witnessed while serving in a Norwegian
regiment at the Baltic front. Each of them was clearly living a
nightmare.
While Gustav’s
horrifying experiences rendered him stoic, hopeless, and alone, Agnes
often felt peace amidst the horror and reached out to help those she
sensed needed someone. “I learned that there are good people
everywhere …,” she says. “Our female guards were
not fanatics or cruel people either. They were just people who had
found themselves in unfortunate circumstances caused by this evil
war.”
Her faith and a
forgiving spirit helped her to move on day after day and year after
year. As she ministered to the sick and dying after the British
liberated her camp at Bergen in April 1945, she became a living
embodiment of Matthew 25:40.
Gustav, for all the
unthinkable aspects of living in a foxhole and being treated as less
than human by other human beings, recalls in this book kind acts and
heroism that happened amid the horror. But he was an embittered,
miserable soul when Allies captured his camp and then regarded him, a
wounded German soldier, as a P.O.W. in their own. His release and
return to Sweden was nothing less than miraculous.
Transition to “normal”
life was understandably a challenge for Gustav when the unexpected
kindness of two people changed his outlook for the future. (Spoiler
alert: One of them was Agnes.)
A charming chapter
details their romance and courtship from each one’s
perspective. Another tells of their early encounters with the Church
in 1952-53, and sealing in the Switzerland temple in 1957. (Both are
now in their 90s.)
The author, their son,
devotes the epilogue to showing how his parents’ wartime
experiences have affected their family and its values in big and
small ways, instilling integrity, tolerance, and respect for all
people. His love for his parents and admiration for their lives is
amply apparent.
“Overcoming
Through Love” appears on the family crest, representing the
legacy of faith and endurance of Agnes and Gustav Palm.
Surviving Hitler
is a remarkable story and an engaging read, whether or not you are
LDS (227 pages, $19.99 in hard cover).
Laurie
Williams Sowby has been writing since second grade and getting paid
for it since high school. Her byline ("all three names, please")
has appeared on more than 6,000 freelance articles published in
newspapers, magazines, and online.
A
graduate of BYU and a writing instructor at Utah Valley University
for many years, she proudly claims all five children and their
spouses as college grads.
She
and husband, Steve, have served three full-time missions together,
beginning in 2005 in Chile, followed by Washington D.C. South, then
Washington D.C. North, both times as young adult Institute teachers.
They are currently serving in the New York Office of Public and
International Affairs
During
her years of missionary service, Laurie has continued to write about
significant Church events, including the rededication of the Santiago
Temple by President Hinckley and the groundbreaking for the
Philadelphia Temple by President Eyring. She also was a Church
Service Missionary, working as a news editor at Church Magazines,
between full-time missions.
Laurie
has traveled to all 50 states and at least 45 countries (so far).
While home is American Fork, Utah, Lincoln Center and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art have provided a comfortable second home.
Laurie
is currently serving a fourth full-time mission with her husband in
the New York Office of Public and International Affairs. The two
previously served with a branch presidency at the Provo Missionary
Training Center. The oldest of 18 grandchildren have been called to
serve missions in New Hampshire and Brisbane, Australia.