Escape from Germany

Escape from Germany

“Escape from Germany,” is the true recounting of a miraculous yet unsung WWII event, releasing in theaters April, 2024. Hitler's army was rapidly closing borders in August of 1939 while eighty-five American missionaries were serving their church inside Germany. As the German military preparations escalated, word came to speedily move those LDS missionaries to safety in adjacent countries. Taken from the personal diaries of those missionaries, this riveting story is a testimony that God truly leads and protects His servants, opens doors, and provides timely inspiration. The harrowing escape of these missionaries from Nazi Germany as World War II started is one of the most remarkable but little-known events in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

  • Released: 2024-01-01
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, History, War
  • Stars: Landon Henneman, Sebastian Michael Barr, Paul Wuthrich, David McConnell, Trystyn Roberts, Scarlett Hazen, Bruce Newbold, Joseph Batzel
  • Director: T.C. Christensen
 Comments
  • wrxsti54 - 21 June 2024
    Fantastic true story of faith and determination
    Escape from Germany is one of TC Christiansen's faith promoting movies of interesting incidents in LDS Church history. This movie tells the incredible true story of how the President of the German Mission got all of the missionaries serving in Germany in late August 1939 out of the country in the space of a week and with the last 30 missionaries taking the three days right up until the invasion of Poland and the closing of all the borders.

    President Wood (David McConnell) is prompted to assign Elder Siegel (Paul Wuthrich) to roam the mission alone to find stray missionaries to give them money for train tickets and food. What emerges is a constant string of miraculous true stories of how all the missionaries were able to make it out safely to Holland and Denmark.

    Of most interest was the fact of history that Hitler mysteriously delayed the actual invasion of Poland a week meanwhile, then apostle Elder Joseph Fielding Smith assured President Wood that the war would not start until all the missionaries were all gotten out and that is indeed what happened.

    As often happens with a limited budget movie, some of the acting was a little amateurish, but the thrust of the story makes up for it. Fans of TC Christiansen's "Fighting Preacher" movie will recognize the same mother, father and daughter from that movie in this movie. There were two additional highlights: the dramatic music which really added to the tense atmosphere and also the fact that the descendants of those missionaries mostly made up the extras in the movie!

    This was a fabulous rendition of a particularly special chapter in more recent LDS history.
  • Bruce_Young - 12 April 2024
    A True Story movingly and compellingly told
    This film is beautifully made, moving, and remarkably revealing about events leading up to World War II. It is based on careful research about real events, yet at the same time tells an almost unbelievably powerful story. The closing credits were one of my favorite parts of the film: we see photos of the real people who are portrayed in the film, along with information that confirms the veracity of the story we have seen while extending that story beyond what the film portrays. The issues dealt with are thought provoking and chillingly relevant, including the plight of refugees, racial and religious prejudice, and the abuse of government power. But we also see the power of goodness in so many who are willing to risk their own safety to help and protect others.