Alwine Blöbaum-Schlomann
Alwine Blöbaum hailed from Eidinghausen (Germany). She was born on 28 June 1900 and in 1924 joined the religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses.1WTA Selters i.T., data collection, Blöbaum, Alwine; WTA Selters i.T., Doc. 25/09/45, declaration of reversal of the judgement; WTA Selters i.T., account given by Blöbaum, Wilfried, 12-04-1999. Her husband, August Blöbaum, was also a Bible Student. Their son Wilfried was born in 1925. The family lived in Bad Oeyenhausen, where they participated in the underground work of Jehovah’s Witnesses after the National Socialists banned the Bible Students in 1933.
In 1936 at Lucerne, Switzerland, Jehovah’s Witnesses issued a resolution in which they entreated Hitler to cease persecution of the brothers in the faith, as otherwise Jehovah would destroy Hitler and the Nazi Party, after which the Blöbaum family took part in distributing copies of this resolution and huge amounts were stored in their family home. On 14 December 1936 the Gestapo searched the Blöbaum family home, but they found no Watchtower literature. Nevertheless, August Blöbaum was arrested that same day at his place of work. The next day Alwine was also taken into custody. She was kept in detention on remand for six months before a special court in Dortmund pronounced her an enemy of the state for having taken part in the illegal activities of the International Bible Students Association. She was given a 10-month prison sentence.
Alwine’s husband, August, was so severely beaten while in custody that he had a nervous breakdown. He was rendered unfit for imprisonment and was taken to his parents’ home, where his young son had also been taken in. His health remained unstable for the rest of his life.
After having served her sentence, Alwine was not released but was deported to the concentration camp at Moringen on 18 November 1937. She remained there until 21 February 1938 when she was transferred to the Lichtenburg concentration camp along with other female prisoners.2WTA Selters i.T., transport list from 21-02-1938; file from the office of the state police on Blöbaum, Alwine, II D-4526/37 Alwine was presumably transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp for women, immediately after its opening. That is clear from her low registration number: 256.3WTA Selters i.T., Doc. 09/05/45; declaration of release. Which detail she was assigned in camp Ravensbrück is unknown. We do know that she was exposed to brutal maltreatment, resulting in permanent damage to her health.
In May 1943 Alwine Blöbaum was transferred to the SS labour camp at St. Lambrecht. Within this homogeneous group of prisoners, she was seen as one of the 144,000 ‘anointed’, who were looked up to for guidance.4PA, interview Pronk, Cobie, 18-10-2002.
The tasks assigned to her at St. Lambrecht are unknown. Gerdina Huisman-Rabouw remembers her as being a motherly woman, having a ‘sweet disposition and being a kindly sister’.5WTA Emmen, interview Huisman, Gerdina 15-03-2002.
Although Alwine was liberated from the concentration camp in May 1945 she did not return to Bad Oeyenhausen until September 1945. She had been incarcerated for almost nine years. Back home, she found her husband in a bad state of health, recovering very slowly from the traumatic experience under the Nazi Socialist regime. Eventually he returned to work as a cabinet maker and could once again support his family. The years of imprisonment had also affected Alwine physically.
Alwine Blöbaum passed away in 1981.
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