Customer Reviews

Day of No Return

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During the Nazi reign of terror in Europe, Holland gave us the ten Boom's, Norway had its brave resistance fighters, Austria had the Von Trop family and Denmark smuggled its Jewish people to nuetral Sweden. Being 7/8ths German it always bothered me that the German people and especially the German clergy could be such "wimps" in the face of such brutality.

While there were undoubtedly some spineless Germans, this book details the life's of some brave German Lutheran pastors and their stand against Hitler's doctrine. One of them refused to preach Nazi doctrine and was denied ordination into the German Lutheran Church. When his struggle to resist Nazi doctrine got him ordered leave the country by his bishop, he fled to America.

His father was killed for his refusal to preach Nazi doctrine and practice racial discrmination. The way this prominent German pastor opposed Nazi ideas was to avoid mention of Nazi doctine, but instead preach the Word of God, whose message of love glaringly shows Nazi racial hatred for what it is. God's Word also refeshed the soul weary from living in the midst of such blatant wickedness as was found in Hitler's Germany. When numerous people left the Nazi supported state churches and begin attending the Bible preaching churches, the Bible preaching pastors were either killed or sent to concentration camps. What a joy to discover that not all Germans were wimps. Once you begin reading it, you won't want to put this well written book down.

I read this book a few years ago and it still stands out in my mind as a memorable and important story. Based on a true events and real people, it was originally published in 1942, with some changes to protect the identity of those involved in the story. As with the previous reviewer, I had always wondered how the German people could have allowed Hitler's rise to power, and how the church in Germany reacted. The beginning of this book clearly showed the conditions in Germany which set the stage for Hitler's rise. Once I got past the opening scenes, I found it very hard to put the book down. It is a gripping story, well-told, and even more important because we must never forget the lessons of history.