Heroes

At CrossFit Mount Olympus we have a number of workouts named after heroes who died during military and other public service.  This week, one of my heroes died.

Karl-Heinz Schnibbe and two friends defied the Nazi regime and were finally caught in 1942.  Helmuth Hübener, Ruddi Wobbe and Karl-Heinz Scnibbe conducted an anti-Nazi propaganda campaign and paid a dear price.  Helmuth became the youngest opponent of the Third Reich to be executed, while Ruddi and Karl-Heinz were sent to prison.

Pressed into military service at the end of the war, Karl-Heinz was left behind by American troops who were looking only for rocket scientists and pilots to liberate.  As a result he spent the four years following the war in a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp. 

Ruddi Wobbe, Helmuth Hübener, and Karl-Heinz Schnibbe

On a personal note, Stacy and I got married because of the encouragment of Karl-Heinz Schnibbe.  He serves as an example of how to endure to the end, but I will always be grateful for the time he asked me, "Why haven't you married that girl yet?" 

I have a copy of one of his books in which he wrote, "Freedom is not free for everybody." 

There are a number of books and documentaries about Karl-Heinz and his friends.   I recommend watching Truth & Conviction and reading his memoir, When Truth Was Treason.

We will be attending the funeral Friday at noon.  Feel free to join us if you would like to honor this great man.

The obituary can be read HERE.

Funeral services will be held at the Valley View LDS 3rd Ward, 4101 S. 1925 East, Friday at noon.