The Tracks of God

I first met Henry Oehmsen in the peaceful setting of George Iowa. He dropped by my office to talk about God and his personal life - and very specifically in relation to what he had been through as a young soldier during World War II in the war's aftermath and to the present. I learned that Henry had enlisted in the Waffen SS the military branch of the Schutzstaffel. These elite units served heroically on the eastern front - and with enormous losses of life. Henry firmly believed that God had been tracking him all his life. Far from simplistic his theology went deep as he discovered God's Presence and guidance even in times of terrible and terrifying adversity. I quickly discovered that this remarkable person had been to hell and back. Captured by the Americans at the end of World War II the very next day he and his compatriots were turned over to the Soviets. One of the agreements at Yalta dictated that all Waffen SS soldiers who had served in the German Sixth Army were to be delivered into the hands of the Russians. Of all the thousands of German soldiers imprisoned in the slave labor camps of the Soviet Union less than half finally returned home. The rest died from the brutality inflicted on them or were killed outright by their captors. In speaking of this Henry pointed out with customary candor and fairness that much of this was also true of the Russians who became prisoners of German forces. For the 32 months of his confinement in the Soviet camps Henry Oehmsen fought for survival. One of the most crushing blows was a 20 year sentence for stealing a loaf of bread. But he persevered. This is Henry Oehmsen's fascinating story. I consider it a high privilege to help him tell it. Robert L. Grupp - Le Mars Iowa