When War World II broke out for Great Britain in September of 1939, many Germans in England were painfully reminded of 1914. Many people from Germany were seeking shelter and a safe haven in England. There was an uncertainty for a period as to how to classify these people. Were they friendly or were they enemies? The refugees tended to be strongly anti-Nazi. They viewed the war not so much as Germany vs. Britain but as an international war against fascism. They were not afraid to stand up for German culture, language, and Church. They saw these elements as being threatened by the Third Reich. The older members of St. Mary's were unable to distinguish between the Nazi regime and the German people. They understood anti-Nazi views as being against the German people.
All in all, no collective hatred towards Germans broke out in Britain in 1939 in contrast to the First World War. The British people saw there was a difference between the Nazi and the non-Nazi. There were friendly aliens and enemy aliens. The English clergy was helpful as they too distinguished between the two groups and urged support for the German clergy in England who stood against the Nazi. Some of the German pastors who had been interred in the first weeks of the war were released.
At the outbreak of the war, St. Mary's had about 80 members. Though their pastor had been interred and had been released, he was again interred in 1940. A second blow came during the air raids when incendiary bombs utterly destroyed the Church of St. Mary's and the school. Max Loeffler, the treasurer, was a powerful force for keeping the spirit of St. Mary's alive. He managed to visit the old and sick parishioners. Loeffler contacted Dr. Hans-Herbert Kramm, who had a refugee congregation in Oxford. To begin with, Kramm preached every fortnight in London's St. Mary's Church in the bomb damaged former teacher's house. The Church gained several new members under the very trying circumstances. Kramm's pulpit was built from plywood by prisoners of war for whom he was responsible. A football trophy, which Parish Worker Ursula Behr had discovered in a second hand dealer's shop, served as the communion cup.
Kramm was officially elected pastor by the congregation in March of 1943. At his installation service, the Bishop of London (the future Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher) and all of the German ministers, plus representatives of several other of the free Churches, were present. Kramm took note of the diverse international audience and preached his sermon in English. He recognized that St. Mary's was no longer a parochial church but was international and to be identified with all Lutheran churches. A response by an English clergyman gave thanks for all those in Germany who had remained faithful to Christianity. Several people from Oxford, who were familiar with the work of Pastor Kramm, came to join St. Mary's.
(23 Mar 05)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.