Living in Wartime
Memories of School Sisters of Notre Dame Recorded in Crisis

A number of German School Sisters of Notre Dame left Nazi Germany as Hitler closed denominational schools. In her book "Enlarge The Space of Your Tent," Sister Victoria Wiethaler chronicles the journeys of many sisters who left Germany prior to WW II.

Relive the memories of four of these sisters as collected by S.Victoria.

S Bernarde Lang - In her autobiography Sister Bernarde gives a detailed account of her life, "I, Caroline Lang, was born on January 27, 1917, the third of fifteen children in beautiful, then royal Bavaria. Four of the children died in early childhood.

S. Leonis Fick - Just eleven days after Sister Leonis pronounced her first vows in Munich motherhouse, April 20, 1937, she was on her way to the United States, her new homeland. Shortly before entering the novitiate, the postulants had been asked, "Do you wish to go to a foreign mission?" Maria Josepha Fick answered with a firm, "NO!"

S. Mary Benedicta Viebeck - Sister Mary Benedicta Viebeck states, "I consider my whole religious life a challenging, enriching experience in SSND internationality. When I was a candidate in Bavaria, the government started closing schools to our sisters and the future of our congregation seemed unsure.

S. Victoria Wiethaler - Sister Victoria Wiethaler of the Milwaukee province grew up on a small Bavarian farm. Seven brothers and sisters followed her. She relates, "Our two-room school was taught by capable SSNDs. We profited much by their teaching of catechism and Bible History.