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Hübener came from an apolitical, religious family in Hamburg Germany. He belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  as did his mother and grandparents. His adoptive father Hugo, a Nazi sympathizer, gave him the name Hubener.

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Hübener came from an apolitical, religious family in Hamburg, Germany. He belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as did his mother and grandparents. His adoptive father Hugo, a Nazi sympathizer, gave him the name Hübener.

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Using the typewriter that belonged to his branch, young Helmuth and his friends started composing anti-war pamphlets to draw people's attention to the untruths being spread by the German war machine about World War ll.
They also bravely pointed out the criminal behavior of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbel and other leading Nazi high command leaders.
The young priests even addressed larger topics such as the futility of the war, Germany's certain defeat, and the evils of the Third Reich

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Over the following few months, Helmuth wrote over 60 different pamphlets containing material from the BBC broadcast.
The boys then secretly duplicated and distributed thousands of their fliers throughout Hamburg.
The fliers pointed out specific instances where the German people were being lied to by the German High Command.
Some of the titles were: Down With Hitler, Hitler The Murderer! Who Is Lying! and The Voice Of Conscience.

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In February 1941 young Hubener was arrested by the Gestapo at his workplace while trying to translate some of his pamphlets into French.
Helmuth had been tracked down by Erwin Muessener a Gestapo agent after a tip from a Nazi sympathizer.
After several days of being tortured and beaten, but in an attempt to protect his friends from harsh treatment he claimed to be the mastermind of the conspiracy and explained that his played minor roles in assisting him.

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wikipedia.com

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Born | 8 January 1925
Hamburg, Germany
Died | 27 October 1942 (aged 17)
Berlin, Germany
Criminal penalty | Death by beheading 27 October 1942
Conviction | Treason

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-Hubener was the leader who formed the youngest resisitance group in the Nazi Germany against Adolph Hitler's mad drive for conquest.
-His courageous story, taught people about loyalty, and devotion to the ideals of truth and liberty.
-In 1935 the Nazis banned the Boy Scouts in Germany and required all the boys to join the Hitler Youth.
-When the war started, listening to foreign radio broadcast was strictly forbidden by the Nazis. They were concerned that the lies and propaganda by the allies could harm the German war effort.

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He was brutally interrogated and later tortured in Gestapo prisons in Hamburg and Berlin.
Gestapo’s Berlin Plötzensee prison is the name of the prison were he was beheaded.
He was the youngest person to be sentenced by Hitler’s special “People’s Court” and executed for conspiracy to commit treason against the Nazi regime.

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Truth & Conviction: The Helmuth Hubener Story (Teenage Nazi resistance fighter)

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Richard Lloyd Dewey (Author), Blair R. Holmes (Editor)

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Hubener vs. Hitler: A Biography of Helmuth Hubener, Mormon Teenage Resistance Leader

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Hubener vs. Hitler: A Biography of Helmuth Hubener, Mormon Teenage Resistance Leader [Richard Lloyd Dewey, Blair R. Holmes] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Hubener vs. Hitler: A Biography of Helmuth Hubener, Mormon Teenage Resistance Leader

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The announcement made last week at General Conference that young men could now serve missions at 18 and young women at 19 has been met with enthusiasm on all fronts. The impact has been immediate as colleges, families, wards and stakes have seen a rush of excited young men and women completing their applications and requesting their ecclesiastical interviews.

I've watched my nieces and nephews eagerly jump at the surprise opportunity to depart for their missions earlier than once anticipated. I thought of how much courage the youth of the Church have consistently displayed through the years, starting with young Joseph at the tender age of 14 and over a million missionaries since then who have bravely faced opposition and untold hardship in countries around the globe. I also considered the plight of three young priests who served together in a priest quorum together in Hamburg, Germany during World War II.

One day in 1941, Helmuth, then 16, found a forbidden shortwave radio his brother Gerhard had left in a hall closest and he started listening to radio broadcasts from the BBC about the true state of affairs occurring in the World War. He invited his two best friends from his priest quorum, Karl-Heinz Schnibbe then 17, and Rudolph Wobbe, then 15, to listen with him.

What they heard in the autumn of 1941 shocked them into action. Using the typewriter that belonged to his branch, young Helmuth and his friends started composing anti-fascist leaflets and anti-war pamphlets to draw people's attention to the untruths being spread by the German war machine about World War II. They also bravely pointed out the criminal behavior of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbel and other leading Nazi high command leaders. The young priests even addressed larger topics such as the futility of the war, Germany's certain defeat, and the evils of the Third Reich.

Over the following few months, Helmuth wrote over 60 different pamphlets containing material from the BBC broadcasts. The boys then secretly duplicated and distributed thousands of their fliers throughout Hamburg, by pinning them to bulletin boards, inserting them into mailboxes, placing them in telephone booths, and stuffing them in coat pockets. The fliers often pointed out specific instances where the German people were being lied to by the German High Command. Some of his titles were: Down with Hitler, Hitler the Murderer! Who is Lying! and The Voice of Conscience!

Some six months after their secret efforts commenced, young Hubener was arrested by the Gestapo at his workplace in February 1942, while trying to translate some of his pamphlets into French so that his young friends could distribute them among POWs. Young Helmuth had been tracked down by Erwin Muessener, a Gestapo agent, after a tip from a Nazi sympathizer. After several days of beatings and torture, Helmuth finally disclosed the names of his accomplices, but in an attempt to protect them from harsher treatment, he claimed to be the mastermind of the conspiracy and explained that his friends played minor roles in assisting him.

Hubener's lawyers, mother and the Berlin Gestapo all argued for clemency in his case, hoping to have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. They argued on appeal that he had fully confessed his crimes and shown himself to be still morally uncorrupted. However, the Reich Youth Leadership (Reichsjugendfuhrung) would have none of it and contended that the dangers posed by Hubener's activities to the German war effort made the death penalty necessary.

On 27 October 1941, the Nazi Ministry of Justice upheld the Volksgerichtshof's verdict. Hubener was told of the appellate court's decision at 1:04 p.m. on the scheduled day of his execution and beheaded in the execution room at 8:13 p.m. the same day, at Plotzensee Prison in Berlin. He was just 17 years old, one of the youngest executions by the Nazi regime.

Hours before his scheduled execution, Hubener wrote to a fellow branch member the following letter: "I am very grateful to my Heavenly Father that my miserable life will come to an end tonight-I could not bear it any longer anyway. I know that God lives and He will be the Just Judge in this matter. My Heavenly Father knows that I have done nothing wrong....I look forward to seeing you in a better world!"

Years later, Brother Schnibber would say that the hardest thing he ever did was say goodbye to his young friend Helmuth. He told Helmuth he would see him again and hugged him. With tears in his eyes, Helmuth said, "I hope you have a better life and a better Germany." Then he cried. Helmuth's sensitivity to the Spirit, even after months of cruel torture and beatings in his prison cell, is illustrated by a comment he made in his letter to a friend the day he died when he penned the following: "I am sorry that I had to break the Word of Wisdom at my last hour." He regretted being forced by his Nazi executioners to drink some wine before his beheading.

Schnibbe and Wobbe spent three years together in a German labor camp, where they suffered beatings and starvation. They spent freezing winter months wading in water up to their thighs as they dug in peat bogs. Schnibbe was released early and drafted into the German Army just weeks before the war ended and was forced to march with the army to Russia. He was then taken prisoner by the Soviets and held as a prisoner of war in Russia for four more years. He did not return to Germany until 1949. When he returned home, his mother did not recognize him. He weighed a mere 95 pounds on his 6 ft 2 inch frame; a walking skeleton.

Both Karl Schnibbe and Rudi Wobbe immigrated to Utah in the early 1950s, together with Hubener's two half-brothers. Wobbe later credited the teachings of the Church and good parents as reasons the boys displayed such courage to take their stand and risk their all for the cause of truth.

We can certainly be proud of these three Mormon teenagers who had the courage and integrity to stand up against Hitler and his cruel policies in spite of the obvious dangers! After the war ended, Helmuth was recognized as a martyr for his resistance against the Nazi regime. Among many efforts taken to preserve the memory of the young hero was the establishment of the Helmuth Hubener Haus in Hamburg.

A play depicting the struggle of Hubener and his friends in a totalitarian regime was written and produced by BYU Professor Thomas Rogers.

The story of the brave young resistance group has been portrayed in German and English publications, including separate book accounts published in Utah by Rudi Wobbee and by Karl-Heinz Schnibbe. An hour documentary premiered on BYU Television entitled, Truth and Conviction. Additionally, Gunter Grass, one of Germany's most well known intellectuals, has included Hubener's resistance activities in his writings. In 1985, Schnibbe was honored by the German Government as a resistance fighter, a year after he wrote his book about his experiences, The Price: The True Story of a Mormon Who Defied Hitler. Another major motion picture based on the Hubener Group, Truth & Treason, is in production.

Schnibbe died in Salt Lake City at age 86 in May 2010. Schnibbe spent the last 18 years of his life as a temple worker in the Salt Lake Temple, where he had worked for many years as a painter and craftsman. Wobbe died of cancer in 1992 after writing his award winning book, Three Against Hitler.

We certainly cannot judge those who remained silent in Germany or opposed the efforts of these three brave LDS young men. The pressures to support the German government before and during the war were enormous, the propaganda spread by the Nazis was compelling, and the risks of showing any signs of rebellion were swift and terrifying. Only God can judge the local branch president who mistakenly excommunicated young Helmuth after his arrest. Fortunately the Church leaders in Salt Lake posthumously reinstated Helmuth in 1946, shortly after the war ended, for the mistaken excommunication that did not follow proper procedure.

The young teenagers going into the mission field in our day also show tremendous courage and bravery to leave family and friends behind to face unknown languages, people and cultures near and far. They too must be brave and not hesitate to open their mouths to spread the beautiful truths of the restored Gospel. May we never forget the price of freedom and be grateful and supportive of the thousands who sacrifice so much to spread the cause of truth throughout the world. Perhaps when a young missionary hesitates or is frightened to share the gospel message, recalling the bravery of Helmuth and his friends will be a strong incentive to speak up and preach the Gospel.

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Missionary Moment: The Helmuth Hubener Story-Three LDS Teenagers who Defied Hitler

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The announcement made last week at General Conference that young men could now serve missions at 18 and young women at 19 has been met with enthusiasm on all fronts. The impact has been immediate as colleges, families, wards and stakes have seen a rush of excited young men and women completing their applications and requesting their ecclesiastical interviews.

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Helmuth Hübener war erst 17 Jahre alt, als er in Berlin-Plötzensee enthauptet wurde. Die Hinrichtung des jüngsten vom Volksgerichtshof zum Tode verurteilten Widerstandskämpfers gegen den Nationalsozialismus jährt sich am Samstag, den 27. Oktober 2012, zum 70. Mal. Ein Anlass für Gemeinden und Gläubige der Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage, eines Glaubensbruders zu gedenken.

Am Jahrestag legen Vertreter der Kirche im Rahmen eines stillen Gedenkens am Ort der Hinrichtung einen Kranz nieder. Nähere Details erhalten Medienvertreter bei der Pressestelle der Kirche vorab per E-Mail.

Eingeladen ist die Öffentlichkeit zu einer Gedenkveranstaltung mit musikalischer Umrahmung am Samstag, den 27. Oktober, um 19 Uhr im Pfahlhaus der Kirche Jesu Christi Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage in Hübeners Geburtsstadt Hamburg, Wartenau 20. Ihre Teilnahme zugesagt haben Staatssekretär a.D. Frerich Görts und Professor Alan Keele. Görts ist Sprecher der Kirche Jesu Christi in Deutschland. Keele ist emeritierter Professor der Brigham Young University und befasst sich seit über 30 Jahren mit dem deutschen Widerstand gegen Hitler.

Keele spricht auch am Sonntag, den 28. Oktober, um 19 Uhr auf Einladung der Stadtteilinitiative Hamburg-Hamm im Stadtteilarchiv Hamm in der Carl-Petersen-Straße 76 über das Schicksal des jugendlichen Widerstandskämpfers.

Des weiteren hält er Vorträge in den Gemeindezentren der Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage in Leipzig, Düsseldorf und Heidelberg:
Montag, den 29. Oktober, um 20 Uhr in der Oeserstraße 39 in 04229 Leipzig. Dienstag, den 30. Oktober, um 19 Uhr im Mörsenbroicher Weg 184 in 40480 Düsseldorf. Donnerstag, den 1. November, um 19 Uhr im Wieblinger Weg 11-15 in 69213 Heidelberg.
Der Eintritt zu allen Veranstaltungen ist frei.

Helmuth Hübener gehörte der landläufig als "Mormonen" bekannten Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage an. Er nutzte die Schreibmaschine seiner Hamburger Kirchengemeinde, die er als ehrenamtlicher Sekretär zwecks Verfassens von Protokollen und Briefen an die Soldaten an der Front in die Wohnung seiner Großeltern nehmen durfte, um Flugschriften gegen Hitlers Unrechtsregime herzustellen. Seine aktivsten Mitstreiter kannte Helmuth aus seiner Kirchengemeinde.

Dennoch war Helmuths politische Widerstandsarbeit nicht typisch für die etwa 15.000 deutschen Mormonen zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Die Gläubigen versuchten damals mehrheitlich, die aktive politische Beteiligung zu umgehen. Helmuths Hamburger Gemeindeleiter hingegen war ein engagierter Nationalsozialist und ließ am Eingang der Versammlungsräume ein Schild mit der Aufschrift "Juden ist der Zutritt verboten" anbringen, was für die Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage keine übliche Praxis war. Helmuth war entsetzt und lernte, zwischen seinem eigenen tief empfundenen Glauben und dem Handeln anderer Gemeindemitglieder zu unterscheiden. In seinem letzten erhaltenen Brief, verfasst am Tag seiner Hinrichtung an die befreundete Familie Sommerfeld, schrieb er: "Mein Vater im Himmel weiß, dass ich nichts Unrechtes getan habe [...] Ich weiß, dass Gott lebt, und Er wird der gerechte Richter über diese Sache sein."

Günter Grass nahm die Geschichte der Helmuth-Hübener-Gruppe als Basis für seinen 1969 erschienenen Roman "Örtlich betäubt". Derzeit werden die Ereignisse um die Gruppe verfilmt. In Hamburg sind ein Jugendhaus, ein Weg und eine Stadtteilschule nach Hübener benannt.

Interviewanfragen für Professor Keele sind per E-Mail zu richten an die Pressestelle der Kirche in Frankfurt am Main.

Literaturhinweise:
Karl-Heinz Schnibbe, Jugendliche gegen Hitler. Die Helmuth-Hübener-Gruppe in Hamburg 1941/42, Berg am See 1991.
Ulrich Sander, Jugendwiderstand im Krieg. Die Helmuth-Hübener-Gruppe 1942/1942, Bonn 2002.

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Helmuth Hübener war erst 17 Jahre alt, als er in Berlin-Plötzensee enthauptet wurde. Die Hinrichtung des jüngsten vom Volksgerichtshof zum Tode verurteilten Widerstandskämpfers gegen den Nationalsozialismus jährt sich am Samstag, den 27. Oktober 2012, zum 70. Mal. Ein Anlass für Gemeinden und Gläubige der Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage, eines Glaubensbruders zu gedenken.

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bycommonconsent.com

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Book of Helmuth-       https://www.amazon.com/Hubener-vs-Hitler-Biography-Resistance/dp/0929753135
Helmuth story- https://ldsmag.com/article-1-11597/
Gedenken- https://www.presse-mormonen.de/artikel/70-todestag-huebener
video how he died- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGhv-zDzsAc
video biography- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICswA1YnvA8
self portrait (teen) - pintrest.com
self portrait (teen)- codyzamora.blogspot.com
portrait(with friends)- wikipedia.com
self portrait (with camera)- pinterest.com
Portrait (off guard)- bycommonconsent.com

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codyzamora.blogspot.com