St. Olaf College and Lutheran World Federation Service to Refugees

This digital exhibition presents facets of the Lutheran World Federation Service to Refugees (LWF-SR) in Europe following World War II, with special focus on the roles of St. Olaf College faculty, staff and students who helped to deliver the LWF’s promise to assist Lutheran Displaced Persons (DPs) in their time of great need.

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Photo from left to right: Howard Hong, James V. Anderson, Sylvester Michelfelder, at LWF Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, ca. 1948

In June 1947, the newly established Lutheran World Federation assembled in Lund, Sweden, to define its purposes, among them: “to support Lutheran groups in need of spiritual or material aid” (LWF Constitution, 1947). That same month, St. Olaf Professor of Philosophy, Howard Hong, his family and three young volunteers arrived in occupied Germany to begin the work of supporting Lutherans in DP camps. A number of St. Olaf graduates soon followed to share in the service, and later, some of those assisted by the LWF-SR made their way to Northfield, Minnesota and St. Olaf College.

Lutherans were not the only religious group assisting refugees in postwar Europe. Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian groups organized impressive aid initiatives especially for their fellows in faith. At the same time, a spirit of Christian ecumenism was growing, as was a desire among Lutheran churches to join together in global community and action.

 

“All of the major American religious groups were developing aid plans at the time…and the Lutherans considered themselves a major church.”

Dr. Mark Granquist, Professor of the History of Christianity, Luther Seminary 1

Project Origins and Organization

This project was inspired by a 2019 meeting between Prof. Amanda Randall and St. Olaf alumnus and LWF-SR volunteer James V. Anderson, who was with Howard Hong in Germany at the start of the initiative. In summer 2023, three St. Olaf student researchers joined Prof. Randall to create this online exhibition, with each student developing a topic section of their choosing. The first iteration of the exhibition focuses on the LWF Service to Refugees in the American and British Zones of Occupied Germany.  Future phases of research will expand the exhibit’s geographic and thematic scope.

Churches in Exile

Refugee Services

International Cooperation

About the Research Team

Multi-Media

In addition to the narratives found in the “St. Olaf and the LWF” and “History” sections of the exhibition, archival, interview, and bibliographic research yielded a variety of media gathered here for visitors to explore. The exhibition’s aim is not to present the definitive story of the LWF-SR, but rather to introduce the history and open a space for ongoing inquiry.

Written by James Anderson for the Lutheran World Action Bulletin, this article describes the dedication of Imbshausen, the first LWF-SR study center and a valuable part of the work in the British Zone.

News Clippings

Map Room

Howard Hong's calcium carbide lamp

Photo Gallery

Answer for Anne (1949)

Film Archive

Endnotes

  1. Mark Granquist, interview with Anneke Shiller and Natalie Wilson, recorded by Xiaoyang Hu and Amanda Randall, June 6, 2023, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN.

Click the button below to view the complete bibliography for this digital exhibition.

Bibliography

Photo Credits (from top to bottom, left to right)*

  1. (Heading) Watercolor painting of a Bavarian house, dated 1947 by Valdis Lauva, resident of Displaced Persons Camp “Insula” (Berchtesgaden, Germany); painting donated to St. Olaf College by John Plume, also a former DP resident at Berchtesgaden; used with permission of Velta Zadins, daughter of Valdis Lauva. 
  2. (Slide 1) left to right: Howard Hong, James V. Anderson, Sylvester Michelfelder at the Lutheran World Federation Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, ca. 1948; photo donated by John Plume, used with permission of the Lutheran World Federation. 
  3. (Slide 2) two women handling documents, in the foreground is Alice Erlander; photo from the Lutheran World Federation Service to Refugees Photographic Section, used with permission of the Lutheran World Federation and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 
  4. (Slide 3) Pastor Bruno Ederma with clipboard inspecting packages; photo rom the Lutheran World Federation Service to Refugees Photographic Section, used with permission of the Lutheran World Federation and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
  5. Refugees boarding a ship bound for trans-Atlantic passage; photo from the Lutheran World Federation Service to Refugees Photographic Section, used with permission of the Lutheran World Federation and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
  6. Lutheran World Action news clipping, Region 3 Archives of Luther Seminary Library, used with permission of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
  7. Map of UNRRA D. P. Operations Germany, used with permission of United Nations Library & Archives Geneva. 
  8. Calcium carbide owned by Howard Hong, photograph by Natalie Wilson, lamp lent to St. Olaf College German Department by Erik Hong. 
  9. Film still of “Answers for Anne” film cast, used with permission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

*Description ordering is based on computer view. If viewing this page on a smartphone or tablet, please check the descriptions provided, as the ordering may be distorted.