Georg’s children, Georg
Heinrich, Helene Wennekamp, Frieda
Suhr, Johanne Grotelueschen
(married a Grotelueschen), (Sophie)
Adeline Friedrichs, and Friedrich
Wilhelm (Willi) all stayed in Germany
in the Oldenburg area. They were liv-
ing in this area when their homeland
was ravaged by a number of wars.
During Hitler’s regime in World War
II, the Oldenburg area was devas-
tated.
Willi, who was a teacher and
father of four children, was called to
serve in the army. He marched with
the German army into southern Rus-
sia. Willi remembered how the na-
tives were driven out of their homes
which were then occupied by the
German soldiers. Often there was a
hardship assignment for Willi to carry
out. Sometimes the natives would
meet the soldiers outside of their vil-
lages with offerings of salt, signifying
that they wished for peace. Willi sus-
tained some injuries that plagued him
for many years, but his life was
spared.
Helene Wennekamp lost her
only son, and Adeline Friederichs
lost two sons. Two of the boys were
listed as missing in action in Russia
and were never heard from again.
This all seems especially tragic when one realizes that cousins from America were
fighting against their own cousins in Germany—but not by choice.
The Adeline Friederichs family not only lost two sons in World War II, but
they also lost their farm buildings which were burned by a fire bomb dropped by en-
emy planes. God in His mercy spared their lives, although they lived with much ter-
ror and fright during the rest of the War in the Hengstlage community where they
resided. By 1960, a new combination barn and house had been rebuilt by Adeline’s
family, but they still live with the memory of those frightful bombs.
After the war there was much hardship in Germany because of the lack of
food, clothing, and shelter. When Lena Grotelueschen Loseke of Columbus, Ne-
braska, heard of her relatives’ plight in Germany, she sent some packages of cloth-
ing. This quote is taken from a letter written by Willi to Lena Loseke in December,
1947: “Our boys, 12 years to 3/4 years, all need trousers, coats, shirts, socks, and
Helene Sophie Hagelman Grotelueschen
and Johann Georg Grotelueschen
(child has not been identified)
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