The doors in Walter and Edith Krause's old and modest home in Prenzlau, located about a two-hour train ride north of Berlin, are so low that each time they enter and leave a room they must bow their heads. "This reminds us to be humble," Sister Krause said as she led a guest on a tour of the dwelling.
After only a few minutes in their presence, one realizes the Krauses don't need any outward reminders to be humble. Humility coupled with courage enabled the Krauses to overcome numerous challenges and help others face difficulties of the greatest magnitude when communist forces gained control of their land and surrounding nations in the aftermath of World War II.President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, is among Church leaders who often speak of the courage exhibited by members like the Krauses.
As a member of the Council of the Twelve, he first met Walter and Edith Krause on Nov. 10, 1968, on his initial assignment to the German Democratic Republic, when he went to Goerlitz. "That was the first time, as far as I know, that an apostle of the Lord had been to Gorelitz," President Monson told the Church News. "The land reflected the oppression of its rulers. Fear and apprehension were everywhere to be found.
"About 235 people attended the Church meeting we held in Goerlitz. There, I met Walter Krause, a stalwart in the Church." The next year, on June 14, 1969, President Monson returned to the German Democratic Republic, and organized the Dresden Mission of the Church. Henry Burkhardt was sustained and set apart as president, with Walter Krause as first counselor and Gottfried Richter as second counselor.
When President Monson returned home, he mentioned to President David O. McKay that the members in the communist-controlled nations were unable to receive their patriarchal blessings. Percy K. Fetzer, a regional representative for Germany who was living in the United States, was called as a patriarch to fulfill that responsibility for a few years as he went on trips to those nations.
In early 1973, Brother and Sister Krause received an invitation from the First Presidency to attend general conference in Salt Lake City. They were surprised when government officials granted them permission to leave the country, and although Brother Krause was so ill he almost had to be carried onto the plane, he was determined to accept the First Presidency's invitation.
President Monson met them at the airport and, a few days later, officiated at the sealing ordinance for them in the Salt Lake Temple.
On April 3, 1973, President Spencer W. Kimball, then of the Council of the Twelve, ordained Brother Krause to be a high priest and also a patriarch. At that time, Brother Krause said to President Kimball, "You have just ordained a very sick man." Brother Krause felt he would not live much longer. President Kimball gave him a blessing. Later, when Brother and Sister Krause met with President Harold B. Lee, the Church leader told Brother Krause he would live to give more than a thousand patriarchal blessings. Brother Krause, now 82, has given more than 1,650 blessings.
"President Kimball ordained Brother Krause a patriarch to give blessings to all worthy saints behind the Iron Curtain. What a territory," President Monson said. "Sister Krause has been his scribe for all those blessings.
"Many of those blessings have been given in a building the Church used as its headquarters in Dresden, in what once was a theater. Brother Krause fixed up a special room on the second floor; he wanted to create a spiritual atmosphere for the members who come to receive their patriarchal blessings."
Brother Krause also traveled extensively in some of the communist bloc nations to give blessings to those who could not travel to Dresden, with Sister Krause accompanying him as scribe. They made repeated trips to Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
He also traveled with another purpose. "In the years before new missions were established in eastern Europe, Brother Krause did home teaching everywhere behind the Iron Curtain," President Monson said. "One time, he called a young companion and asked, `Would you like to go with me to do some home teaching?' The young man said he would, and then asked, `Where are we going?' Brother Krause said, `We're going to Hungary.' And off they went. They were gone about four days."
Even before he was called as a patriarch, Brother and Sister Krause traveled to several lands, searching out members of the Church in need of fellowship. In 1967, they went to Debrecen, Hungary, where they celebrated Easter with a lone member, Janof Denndorfer.
Brother Denndorfer, a Hungarian, had joined the Church in 1912 in Herne, Germany, where he was working in a coal mine. At the outbreak of World War I, he returned to his homeland and because of the war and political situations afterward was unable to leave. He was cut off from the Church for years. During all those years, he faithfully put aside 10 percent of his income, looking forward to the day he could pay his tithing.
Brother and Sister Krause were practically the only contact he had with the Church. They felt such love and empathy for him that they vowed they would visit him once a year. Soon after he was ordained a patriarch, Brother Krause gave Brother Denndorfer a patriarchal blessing. Brother Krause promised him he would be able to go to the temple and do the work for his ancestors. That promise seemed impossible because Brother Denndorfer had no way to do his family history research, and getting out of Hungary was next to impossible. Sister Krause felt impressed to assist Brother Denndorfer with his genealogy and researched his family lines back 10 generations, clearing 1,420 names for temple work.
"After some of this research had been completed, Brother Denndorfer told Brother Krause that he had tried repeatedly to get permission to leave Hungary, but he had been refused each time," President Monson related. "Brother Krause - that man of great faith - told Brother Denndorfer, `Try one more time.' "
Brother Denndorfer was given permission to go to Switzerland. He spent two weeks doing work in the Swiss Temple for the names that Sister Krause had researched. Other names she researched are still being worked on in the Freiberg Germany Temple.
President Monson described Brother Krause not only as a very humble man, but also as a man of great courage. "Walter Krause went up and down that land everywhere," President Monson said. "There were guard dogs and machine guns. The threat of incarceration never fazed Walter Krause, a man of courage, and a man of faith. He was absolutely fearless. Frequently, he was interrogated by the government authorities when he was called before them to answer comments and accusations of informers. In every case, he was able to present the truth and defuse what could have been difficult situations.
"One time, I offered a prayer of rededication upon the land. I prayed for the government officials, asking that the Lord would soften their hearts. Someone made a tape recording of that prayer and turned it over to the government authorities, who then called Brother Krause in. They asked him, `Who is this man who would pray that our hearts would be softened?' Brother Krause calmly replied, `Who else would pray for you?' "
President Monson said Sister Krause also exhibited great courage and faith through the years. "She wanted to be a school teacher, but she wasn't allowed to work in that profession because of her faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ," President Monson said. "She applied for a job as a teacher and on the line where it asked for her religion, she wrote that she was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She knew that would disqualify her for the job, but she could not deny her faith. She continued working as a secretary."
Sister Krause commented in a recent interview that one of her guiding scriptures has been Mosiah 24:14: "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders. . . ." That scripture, she said, is appropriate for what she and other Latter-day Saints in the German Democratic Republic and other nations had to endure during the years the communists controlled their lands.
Brother Krause has relied upon the words of Nephi: "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Ne. 3:7.)
Brother Krause has exhibited obedience to the Lord's commandments ever since he was baptized on a cold night in February 1926. At age 15, he left his sickbed to be baptized in a frozen stream that had been chipped open for the occasion. So anxious to be with other young members of the Church in 1928, he walked and hitch-hiked 300 kilometers (186 miles) from his hometown of Schneidemuhl to a conference held in Berlin, carrying a 50-pound pack and only two German marks. He said he was able to bear his testimony all along the way when people asked him why he was walking to Berlin.
He was called to serve as a missionary in 1931. Then, when World War II was about to start, he was among the sad German members who watched LDS missionaries evacuate. Mission Pres. Stanley Rees declared: "We must go, but we will return."
Brother Krause said Pres. Rees made that statement with such power that he never doubted that the missionaries would return, and he bore his testimony to encourage Church members to look forward to that day.
Countless times, Brother Krause, in trying to help others, uttered a simple plea: "Father in Heaven, what should I do?" And countless times, he received an answer.
During World War II, he was drafted into the German army. After the war, he accepted another call to serve a full-time mission for three years, and, in the years since then, has worked faithfully to rebuild the Church in what was the German Democratic Republic and other nations of the Eastern Bloc. He presently serves as patriarch in the Berlin Germany Stake.