Germany after World War II

Germany was devastated by the physical, economic, and emotional toll of WWII, and by the malicious ambitions of the Third Reich. By the end of the war, ordinary people had lost everything: They had no food, no clothes, no jobs, no security, no medicines or healthcare. They faced uncertainty and scarcity, with strict rations.

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In some of the letters, there are references to financial loss because of the currency change that occurred in 1948, which decimated savings. People who once had money now had nothing.

 

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS)

The Lutheran Church in America was compelled to serve its brothers and sisters in Christ. Because they had contacts in Germany, they were particularly able to organize with pastors to provide basic necessities such as soap, lard, socks, and, on occasion, treats like chocolate or cake. 

The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod (LCMS) is one branch of the larger Lutheran Church. This denomination, based in St. Louis, Missouri, is strong in the Midwest, with mostly German descendants. Many of the church leaders and pastors spoke German and had family in Germany. After WWII, the (American) president of the Missouri Synod, President Rev. Dr. John William Behnken, traveled to Germany and entered a pastor’s meeting, determined to help fellow Lutheran Christians in Germany. The full account by the Rev. Dr. Hans-Jörg Voigt, bishop of the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Germany, is included in the following section.

Collaboration between the synods in Germany and the Missouri Synod led to organized aid programs, which matched needy families in Germany to each of the American LCMS churches. American families that were able would “adopt” a family in Germany. The synod prescribed the contents of the care packages, and the adopted families could also make specific requests to help fulfill certain needs. 

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The Ormans at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Nebraska

In White County, Nebraska, there was a family of German farmers who had immigrated to the U.S.  They were well-suited to farming, and they made much of the land. This family was active in their local church adjacent to their farm. This is the Orman Family, longstanding members at St. John’s Lutheran Church in White County, Nebraska. These are my great-grandparents. 

During WWII, all the farmers and their families were expected to contribute to the war effort through raising crops, making bandages, packing care packages, and serving food to German POWs who were housed in camps in Nebraska. In this rural setting, with miles between farmhouses, the churches acted as the organizing hubs for such services.

Lillian Orman was a member of the Ladies Aid at the church, where she played the organ for Sunday services, taught Sunday School, and more. Her husband, Floyd, was a godly man who and a lay leader in the church. Their three children, Dale, Paul, and Rachel, were baptized and confirmed in the little white church when they were teenagers. Rachel, born in 1944, is my grandmother. As a child, she was old enough in the years these letters were written to remember her mother putting together a few of the packages referenced in the letters.

Even though Floyd and Lillian had three small children and very little money, they stepped up and took responsibility to send care packages and encouraging correspondence to several families. Some of packages were sent from the Synod, with the Orman’s financial support. Other packages were directly from the Ormans, often containing their own old clothes. The letters we have cover the three-year period from 1947 to 1950.  

Based on the letters and documents found in my grandmother’s files, the Ormans sent more than 40 care packages. According to the receipts in the files, Floyd sent at least $80 to pay for packages to be distributed to German families through the synod. In today’s dollars, that is approximately $1,170.

The letters in this book are most of the correspondence that Lillian saved. About 40 letters have been passed to me. We only have the letters received by the Ormans, not the letters sent by Lillian and Floyd Orman. 

In some cases, the letters were written in English by the senders; in other instances, the letters have been
translated by a pastor or facilitator in the program.  

These letters tell a part of the story of the strain and suffering of ordinary Germans after WWII. They also provide testimony of their faith in God in hard times.