Out of Germany:  Do What is Right 
From the Journal and History of
Grant W. Baker
1
1
Photos courtesy of Kent J. Baker ([email protected]) unless otherwise indicated.
1 The Farewell was on a Friday evening
2
2 A long program?
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3 Notice that Baker attended BYU for three years prior to mission
4
Photo reprinted from Montague (2000) p. 13.
4 Missionaries on Bikes - Baker is second from left
In 1939, Germany was a dangerous place for Jews and for any other real or imagined enemies of the
Third Reich. It was more than unpleasant for the LDS missionaries who finally left the roiling country
that year. Although the United States did not officially declare war with Germany until two years
later, the dangers in the years prior to the official declaration were personal for U.S. Mormon
missionaries. It was more than the fact that for almost two years Elder Baker had to register with
the police in each city. After the police in Göttingen interrogated him, Elder Baker noted that
tension in Germany was heightened by the regime’s invasion of Austria in 1838. “Hitler started
giving quite a few speeches because of the Austrian situation,” he wrote in his journal. “While he
was talking, it was just as well for us to stay home; no one would open the door or talk with us.
They were afraid of being caught not listening to Hitler.”2
Door-to-door proselytizing landed Baker in the police station where a careful review of his passport
for the umpteenth time satisfied the police who also examined all the literature in his apartment. It
is unlikely that the police learned anything from that literature that motivated them to allow
missionary tracking since they shut down the practice in many areas.
Tension among the missionaries increased after Baker and his companion were routed out of bed
during a brief stay in the “city that repeats itself,” Baden-Baden. They were traveling to Augsburg
for a new assignment and to meet up with a new missionary. “About three in the morning we
heard a loud pounding on the door, with voices shouting ‘auf machen politzei;’ Open up, the police.”
The passport check and questions lasted about a half hour.
2
Quotations are from Baker’s Missionary Journal unless otherwise indicated.
5
Evacuation to Holland
The early morning passport check was not the end of harassment on the way to Augsburg. In
Stuttgart, Baker tried to find the other missionaries. They weren’t in their apartment. Elder Baker
didn’t panic. He did what he often mentioned in his journal. He tried to find a good meal. In his
search for food he found the Stuttgart Elders laden with packages and in a hurry. They must have
spent their last pfennig.3 The Elders had news. They had received a telegram from the mission
president telling them to evacuate to Holland. Baker was to call his new companion, Elder Horsley,
who was waiting in Augsburg. Elder Horsley confirmed what the Stuttgart Elders had said. A
telegram had arrived from the mission office; they were to head for Den Haag the next day and
Baker was to call the mission president.
This all took time. Stuttgart was in strict blackout and telephone service was minimal. It took a
couple hours to get a call through. Baker’s luggage was somewhere between Baden-Baden and
Augsburg. Elder Horsley in Augsburg had no money and couldn’t get out of Germany without
Baker’s help.
Probably the only late departing train in German history made it possible for Baker to get on his way
to Augsburg, but without luggage. He arrived in Augsburg three hours late because his sidetracked
train made slow progress as it allowed free movement of German troop trains. Once in Augsburg,
he began to tick off his list of urgent chores. He arranged for new branch leadership, visited as
many members as possible to tell them he didn’t know when the missionaries would return, picked
up Elder Horsley, arranged for the landlady to forward luggage, purchased train tickets, and after
little sleep made the train for Den Haag the next morning.
A five-hour unplanned layover in Cologne was a bit unsettling, but the Elders used the time to visit
the Cathedral across the street from the train station. Trains don’t run late; the schedule just
changes. And they did not want to stray far from the station since train schedules were changing to
accommodate troop movements. It was a relief to finally head for the border to meet other
missionaries, if only to learn that they should head to Rotterdam instead of Den Haag. It was in
Rotterdam with all missionaries uneventfully safe, including a late arrival by the mission president,
when someone noticed that their evacuation order from Germany was on the same date as the
order to move the missionaries out of Germany prior to WWI, September 15, 1914 and 1938. In
four weeks the climate of war mellowed a bit and the missionaries returned to Germany.
3
The phennig was the most minor coin in the German system of Marks. It was regarded much like the U.S.
penny today.
6
Kristallnacht4
Back in Germany the missionaries were counseled to be especially cautious, but fresh memories of
the early brushes with German police and the rushed evacuation to Holland must have felt like a
prelude after the again-arrested Baker endured harsh interrogation by German police after
returning to Augsburg. All that the other members and missionaries knew was that Baker and his
companion were missing for the night. They didn’t know about the Augsburg arrest and the
searched apartment and a shakedown, which was much more frightening than earlier experiences
until later.
The arrest in Augsburg was the result of unauthorized picture taking and naïve judgment. Tension
between Germany and Poland over the fate of Polish Jews living in Germany reached a climax on
Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass. Statistics don’t capture the enormity of the damage done to
German property and soul on the night and early morning of November 9-10, 1938, as groups of
Nazi youth and military roamed through Jewish neighborhoods breaking windows of Jewish
businesses and homes, burning synagogues and looting. At the time German officials said the
destruction was spontaneous, but the pogrom looked all too systematic to western observers. In all,
about 100 synagogues were damaged and almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed. Some
26,000 arrested Jews ended up in concentration camps. The “spontaneous” military mob attacked
and beat Jews. At least 91 died. Broken glass littered the streets of Germany forever etching
Kristallnacht as a night of terror with glass littered streets.
We were in Augsburg and had a missionary conference in Munich. On our way, we passed a
large department store. All the windows were broken out and the SS and SA were inside
looting and breaking things up. The store was owned by Jews. I took a picture of it. On
down the street a Jewish Synagogue was in flames. The fire brigade was on the scene but
only putting water on adjacent buildings. I took a picture of it. On down the street we saw
a Jewish Hospital on fire. The patients were doing what they could to get out. Some were
carrying beds out of the hospital. The police and firefighters offered no help. I took a
picture of it.
How someone could forget the grim and frightening pictures hidden on film in an expensive Leica is
beyond explanation. Weeks later, the film was processed. And when the missionaries went for
their pictures, they were forcefully detoured by city police to Gestapo headquarters. It was Baker’s
first automobile ride since leaving Magna, Utah. He and Elder Goold were questioned until well
after midnight. Goold understood no German and the interrogation went hard when Elder Baker
tried to translate for him. The Gestapo wanted Goold to speak for himself. Gould is a Jewish name
and the Gestapo suspected Goold.
4
Baker used the German spelling of crystalnight in his journal.
7
The Gestapo followed the Elders back to their apartment and began a post midnight search. What
were the small envelopes with SS marked on them? Why Shutz Staffel ?5 You expect us to believe
Shontag Schule (Sunday School)? And the envelopes were just a start. The search included shirt
collars, coat lapels, pant cuffs, shoe heels . . . Everything written in English was confiscated.
Final Evacuation
Now the missionaries sensed that they were followed, watched, and monitored. When SS men
attended church meetings, members and missionaries understood Baker’s story of the frightening
interrogation. Baker got his English language reading material back from the Gestapo the day after
his twenty-third birthday. Nevertheless, the missionary work continued. Baker prepared a talk for
the mission conference coming up with Joseph Fielding Smith and his wife, Jesse Evans. He
translated materials for Apostle Smith and asked members to proofread his work. Then on August
25, 1939, at about 6:00 in the evening, the telegram:
“Pack and leave immediately for Rotterdam, Holland. Appoint temporary successor. Take
trunks with you on the train.”6
5
The Schutzstaffel was the ”Protective Squadron" of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party)
and was a large security and paramilitary organization. There were Hitler’s personal bodyguards and troops.
The Schutzstaffel was usually abbreviated SS.
6
Baker’s journal entry doesn’t quite match the original telegram.
8
Photo reprinted from Montague (2000) p. 29.
5 Telegram to Elders Earl, Baker and others from President Wood
There were hurried visits to members and dirty clothing to retrieve from the laundry. Missionaries
sold their bikes for a fraction of their value, branch records were moved and new leaders appointed.
Somehow this evacuation seemed more urgent. This was not a prelude or practice. Baker and Elder
Earl said good bye to the Uhlstein Family and quickly took a photo. Brother Uhlstein died in combat
shortly after his farewell to the missionaries.
9
Photo reprinted from Montague (2000) p. 30.
6 Grant Baker and Ken Earl with the Uhlstein family
It took three days for Baker and his companions to get out of Germany. The last missionaries from
Prague were out a day later, August 29. On Friday, September 1, the Nazis marched on Poland. The
following Sunday, September 3, Great Britain and France declared war and the first shots of World
War II were fired over the Rhine.
The three-day journey was a mixture of good fortune and failed efforts. Elders Earl and Jenkins sold
their new bikes for 30 marks each. That’s cheap, about $7.50 then.7 During the bike sale, Baker was
trying to negotiate with truck drivers who refused to waste precious rationed petrol on a journey to
the Bochum customs office and onto the train depot. Baker’s search for a truck and driver turned
up one who would do the job free if Baker got him five gallons of scarce gas. Gas tastes nasty when
siphoned and 10 marks is a high price, but it got the Elders’ trunks to the customs office.
However, there was no joy at clearing the luggage through customs. After a short wait that seemed
eternal, customs’ officers told the Elders how understaffed they were because of a general army
mobilization and that the Elders would have to clear customs at the border. By this time, the
trucker, who probably came out four and a half gallons ahead, had abandoned them and it took a
two-hour search and another 10 marks to get transport to the train station. The new driver was
resigned to loosing his truck anyway as the government had notified him that they were to
confiscate his truck for the good of the German cause on Sunday next.
7
It is difficult to translate prewar Marks into today’s currencies since German inflation was often in triple
digits in a month.
10
The now four Elders bought train tickets. This required a loan from Elder Baker, Elder Alder (20
marks) and Elder Jenkins (35 marks). But Baker had some money left and used it to purchase a light
meter and tripod on the way out of town.
The trip to the border was uneventful enough in spite of obvious troop movements and train
stations crowded with military and Jews. However, at the Dutch border that evening they found the
immigration rules had changed. Because of the number of refugees streaming into Holland, the
Dutch government decided that no more people fleeing the Third Reich could enter the country
unless they had proof of a through ticked to someplace else. The Elder’s tickets were only to
Rotterdam, Holland. And Baker had spent the last of his money on camera equipment.
Baker called President Murdoch of the Holland Mission using the last of the money, a silver dollar
hidden in the lining of Jenkins’ trousers. Murdoch told the border guards that he would send money
and tickets. It looked as though they were going to get through on the word and bribe of the
Mission President. Hope faded when another American wanted the same treatment. The guards
decided that they couldn’t let four missionaries through and not the other stray American, so all
were denied passage to Rotterdam. For the missionaries, it was back to the last German train
station they had just passed, Emmerich, for a long night in a third-class waiting room.
After a morning wash up in the overused sink and a bite to eat, a train came through with more
missionaries. Elder Seibold had tickets to London and 500 marks. Baker also experienced another
German military shakedown. He had talked to some Jews waiting on the platform and it caught the
attention of the German authorities. During Bakers’ three-hour interrogation and a thorough
baggage inspection, other Elders went back to the Dutch border to see if the London tickets meant
passage through Holland. They didn’t. Seems tickets to London were no good without an English
visa.
Now nine missionaries held their own conference on the Emmerich train platform. They couldn’t
get into Holland. What next, especially knowing that all trains would stop running that night and
there was no word as to when the transportation system would be up again. They decided to go
north to Denmark and to make as much progress as possible in what was left of the day. The trains
ran two and three hours late. Sometimes the Elders hopped any train going north when the
conductor wasn’t looking or when the train started moving. They assumed that officials wouldn’t
stop the moving train to put them off. Baggage was stuffed through windows at such a furious rate
that the Elders broke out a train window. But the slow moving train wasn’t stopped. At every
station, some of the Elders would get off and walk through the crowded place whistling, “Do What is
Right,” a mission theme song. This song allowed them to identify other missionaries without
drawing the attention of the German authorities. By the time they hit Hamburg they were at 14
Elders. But they were too late for a connection direct to Copenhagen.
The Elders decided to keep going. Little jumps toward Copenhagen were better than no progress at
all. They caught every short north-bound hop possible. By the time the trains stopped at night they
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were short of their final destination but north enough in Neumunster to feel they had made
progress. Now it was time for another long night on hard benches with immovable armrests in a
last-class railroad waiting room that seemed to stick to their feet. There was no food that night
because of German rationing and breakfast the next morning was a glass of milk, and a roll – both a
bit old.
At 10:00 in the morning, they luckily caught a direct train to Copenhagen. The Elders noticed even
more troop movements, military convoys, and troop trains. There was a heavy troop presence at all
the train stations that were also crowded with Jews, and the usual “Do what is Right” was whistled
each stop. The crossing into Denmark was trouble free, with a cursory luggage check. Even though
officials looked in all the suitcases, the task seemed mechanical.
The group of now 17 elders arrived in Copenhagen in the afternoon, met by all the missionaries and
presidents and Apostle Smith. They were the last ones out of Germany, although there were still
eight missionaries In Prague. A good night’s sleep, good food, a walk through Tivoli Gardens and a
meeting with Apostle Smith must have made the run from Germany fade a bit from their minds.
However, a German march on Poland in three days quickly brought German experiences to mind
again along with the personal and constant reminder that Elder Baker’s sea trunk with most of his
belongings was still heading for Holland.
Photo reprinted from Montague (2000) p. 104.
7 Elder Baker on left with other German Missionaries and President and Sister Smith in Copenhagen
Baker held out hope that he would return to Germany and finish his mission, but after Elder Smith
had the missionaries sing “It may not be on the mountain height,” he announced that missionaries
who had been out more than two years would return home and that others would be reassigned.
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After five days in Copenhagen, Baker began his sea journey to a new assignment in Wisconsin. He
traveled on the ScanYork, a 6,000-ton freighter converted to a passenger ship. The ship sailed under
neutral American colors. Their escort, a British minesweeper, was destroyed on the return trip to
Copenhagen. There were rough cold seas and a brush and scare with a German ship.
On that rough journey home, Grandpa Baker wrote that he still wanted to return to Germany. He
got his wish in a perverse way when he was drafted into the army and sent back to Germany as an
interpreter. And in a pleasant way, he got his wish in 1966 when he returned with Rachel, his wife,
as a bassoonist with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. But until then, he was safely doing missionary
work in the German speaking towns in Wisconsin and out of Germany doing what’s right.
Photo reprinted from Montague (2000) p. 121.
8 Converted Freighter ScanYork is fitted with a neutral American Flag
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Works Consulted
Montague, Terry Bohle. 1989. “. . . mine angels round about” Mormon Missionary Evacuation from
Western Germany 1939. Murray, UT: Roylance Publishing.
Montague, Terry Bohle. 2000. "mine angels round about" Mormon Missionary Evacuation from
Western Germany - 1939. Orem, UT: Granite Publishing and Distribution.
Baker's missionary journal (1937-1940) is sparse and not paginated. There are dates in the journal.
The reticent narrative of the journal is the primary source for this article even when it
doesn't agree with Baker's Personal History (1979) or a published accounts of the missionary
evacuation written by Montague (1989, 2000).
Baker, Grant Watkins. 1979. Grant Watkins Baker. Personal History. Salt Lake City, Utah.
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9 Baker’s sea trunk arrived in Magna months after Baker's arrival home
15