Magdalena Kusserow

One of 11 children, Magdalena was raised as a Jehovah's Witness by her father, Franz, and mother Hilda. When she was 7, her family moved from Bochum to the small town of Bad Lippspringe. Their home was a central meeting place of the local Jehovah's Witness congregation.

1933-39: After the Nazis came to power in 1933, the Nazi German regime persecuted Jehovah's Witnesses because of their refusal to give up their religious beliefs and serve the government. The Kusserows’ home was repeatedly searched and religious literature was seized. Magdalena’s parents were arrested more than once and her father served multiple prison sentences. Despite Nazi persecution, the Kusserow family continued to practice their religion. Magdalena and her sister distributed religious literature, despite the risks. In 1939, the police took her three youngest siblings away from the family to Nazi reeducation homes for children.

1940-44: Magdalena, her mother, and her sister Hildegard were arrested in April 1941 and each sentenced to prison. Eventually, Magdalena was told that she could go home if she signed a statement repudiating her faith. But Magdalena refused. Because Magdalena was 17 years old at the time, she was detained in juvenile prisons until she was 18. She was then taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. In the camp, she was assigned to various tasks, including gardening work, caring for children, and serving as domestic help for a Nazi official. Her mother and sister Hildegard were also sent to Ravensbrück after serving time in a penitentiary. They too refused to renounce their faith. 

During a forced march from Ravensbrück in April 1945, Magdalena and her mother were liberated. When the war ended, they returned to Bad Lippspringe. Her father and sisters also survived. During the war, two of her brothers were executed for refusing military service.