Biographies

Born in Schalkmühle, Westphalia, Germany, Wilhelm Töllner and his wife, Klara, were both imprisoned for possessing and distributing Bible literature. They lost custody of their two children, Ruth and Wilhelm, Jr.  A special court in Hannover sentenced Töllner to one year in prison in 1936. In December 1937, he was

Marcel Sutter was born on 3 January 1919 in Mulhouse, Alsace.  This brilliant young man was studying electrotechnics to become an engineer when World War II broke out forcing him to stop his training.  He joined the French army and was demobilized in 1940 when Alsace was annexed into Germany.  On

Josef Niklasch was born on September 17, 1918 in Sternberg (in the former Sudetenland).  In 1932, at the age of 14 he came in contact with the Bible Students, or Jehovah’s Witnesses as they were known from 1931.  From 1935 he worked as a typesetter in the branch office of

Hermann Schmidt was born on July 14, 1898 exactly three months to the day before his wife Frieda was born. Together they had a small business in Schriebendorf, a small town near Brieg, in Silesia, Germany. Today it is called Miedzylesie-zamek and is located in southwest Poland, near the Czech border. The Schmidt

Friedrich (Fritz) Adler was born in Lugau, in the district of Chemnitz, Germany. He worked at the post office until 1925, when he became a full-time Bible Student “pilgrim,” or traveling minister. In 1935, Adler was arrested. A special court in Halle sentenced him to one year and six months.