I am deeply grateful for God's loving care and protection of our son during the summer of 1949, when he was taken prisoner and interned in the Eastern Zone of Germany for two months. He and a friend had been on a bicycle trip in the British Isles and France, expecting to return to the United States on a freighter sailing from Hamburg, Germany. When they reached Hamburg they received news that the ship would be laid up in dry dock for four days. Rather than spend this time in the city, the boys decided to continue their bicycle trip in Germany. It was while doing this that they unfortunately crossed into the Eastern Zone and were arrested because they did not have interzonal passes.
On August 2 my husband and I received a cable from the shipping agent in Hamburg telling us that the ship had sailed without the boys, whose whereabouts was unknown. When I was shown this message I quickly denied the suggestion of fear and knew that their whereabouts could not be unknown to our dear Father-Mother God, whom our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, defines as, "The great I am; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 587). Numerous passages from the Bible and Science and Health flooded my consciousness. I knew that this situation was just another opportunity to prove the allness of God.
All human footsteps were taken to locate the boys. A police search was made, and hospitals and morgues were checked, all to no avail. It was not until August 24 that word was received from the Eastern Zone of Germany, and this led us to believe that the boys were there and were being held as hostages for three escaped persons. The officials refused to release them, although repeated demands were made both by military authorities and by our State Department.
