Exceedingly Valiant for Courage

In Book 3 of Saints a story is told of a young man in Germany named Helmuth Hübener who was a member of the Church. Helmuth was described this way: “His testimony and commitment to the Church were strong, and he could answer questions about the gospel with ease.” He was very smart and had obtained a radio in 1941 by which he could listen to radio broadcasts from England. He and his friends learned as they listened to the radio that the German government was lying to the people about the successes of the war. He started distributing anti-Nazi flyers around the city with two other boys using a typewriter he had as the branch clerk with headlines such as “They Are Not Telling You Everything” and “Hitler, the Murderer.” Eventually, though, he was discovered and was arrested by the Gestapo. He was beaten severely in prison, and in August 1942 he was put on trial with two of the friends who had helped him. He was questioned why he did what he did and responded, “Because I wanted people to know the truth.” He was sentenced with the death penalty, and when asked he commented, “You kill me for no reason at all. I haven’t committed any crime. All I’ve done is tell the truth. Now it’s my turn, but your turn will come.” A few hours before he was executed he wrote a letter to another member of the branch, “My Father in Heaven knows that I have done nothing wrong. I know that God lives, and He will be the proper judge of this matter. Until our happy reunion in that better world. I remain your friend and brother in the gospel.” Tragically the branch president and mission president excommunicated Helmuth in an attempt to protect the members and show that the church was not conspiring against the government. But surely that action was not efficacious in the life to come, and the inclusion of his story in this book is a tribute to his courage and faithfulness to the gospel. He will now continue to be remembered for centuries to come. Surely the words the Lord spoke to Nephi could have been for Helmuth as well: “Thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments” (Helaman 10:4).

                Thinking about Helmuth’s willingness to stand up against evil and even give his life for the truth reminds me of a powerful talk given by President Monson nearly two decades ago. He said this: “The call for courage comes constantly to each of us. It has ever been so, and so shall it ever be…. Let us have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully, but also as a determination to live decently.” Helmuth indeed defied the consensus and stood for truth despite the danger it put him in. In the same talk President Monson also told of one 18-year-old seaman in WWII “who was not afraid to pray. Of 250 men in the company, he was the only one who each night knelt down by the side of his bunk, at times amidst the jeers of the curious, the jests of unbelievers, and, with bowed head, prayed to God. He never wavered. He never faltered. He had courage.” That is the kind of courage that we all need—to stand for what is right no matter what the majority around us thinks and to fear God more than we fear man. President Monson concluded with these words to all of us: “Time marches on. Duty keeps cadence with that march. Duty does not dim nor diminish. Catastrophic conflicts come and go, but the war waged for the souls of men continues without abatement. Like a clarion call comes the word of the Lord to you, to me, and to priesthood holders everywhere: ‘Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.’” In 1941 Helmuth Hübener knew it was his duty to tell the truth about the government and what was really happening in the war, and he bravely denounced evil at the peril of his life. Like the stripling warriors of old, he was “exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity” and he was “true at all times” even at the peril of his life. Each of us must likewise stand for truth and courageously do what the Lord would have us do no matter what the world around us says.