Comments on: Hübener at Dixie State College

By: Christopher Ecclestone

Christopher Ecclestone — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 19:15:46 +0000

Bit of skating there around the role of the Branch President, Arthur Zander, protecting his congregation.. he was actually a Party Member and did not need to be,, in modern parlance, Helmuth was hung out to dry. Did he need to be excommunicated? Did the Gestapo come around in the dead of night asking for this final insult? Hmmmmm..

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 23:03:00 +0000

Nice post, John. That young man was truly a hero under the most trying of circumstances. I have always admired others like Marc Bloch and Dietrich Bonhoeffer who died under similar circumstances. But it requires more courage, I think, for relative nobodies who will likely never be noticed by future historians to hold true to their principles and beliefs, and make the ultimate sacrifice.

By: john f.

john f. — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:11:00 +0000

Zach, that’s an interesting point, but it might be a little harsh on people who complain about the “I know that God lives”-type testimonies. Rather than presuming that they haven’t been forced to rely on their faith, which I think likely isn’t true, I think it just stems from an over-intellectualization of something that is by nature not intellectual but rather irrational, i.e. faith and testimony.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:08:00 +0000

The play was put on at BYU, then halted out of concerns that it would cause members to martyr themselves resisting communist eastern european governments.

Rogers went on to become a branch president in the missionary training center and to do other plays, including one on L. of Arabia’s last day. He is a great guy (or was when I met him).

In a twist of fate, a communist readers theater in San Francisco put the play on and it became a leftist cult classic.

Great play. Utah Holiday Magazine ran a story about the true story, including that the branch president relocated to Salt Lake and Hubner was reinstated as a member.

By: Zach

Zach — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 21:53:00 +0000

That’s an amazing story. It continues to pique my curiosity that testimony seems to grow and flower in adversity. I think that those who feel that simple, forceful, unapologetic testimony is somehow inappropriate have the luxury of not being forced to rely on their faith.

By: john f.

john f. — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 08:04:00 +0000

You could have made it a middle name or reverted to Schmidt.

By: Nathan Mark Smith

Nathan Mark Smith — Mon, 14 Mar 2005 22:48:00 +0000

After I watched the documentary, I wanted to name a son Helmuth. My wife wouldn’t do it though. She thinks “Smith” is just phonotactically incompatible with German names.

By: J. Stapley

J. Stapley — Mon, 14 Mar 2005 19:08:00 +0000

You are correct. Reading that testimony is truely inspiring.