Magdalena Willibald-Sedlmeier
Magdalena Willibald was born on 29 May 1898 in Esting in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck in southern Germany.1WTA Selters i.T., Doc. 15/06/49; WTA Selters i.T., data collection, Willibald, Magdalena; ZZ-Willibald, Magdalena Martin, St-K 741.
A baptised Catholic, both she and her husband had their names struck off the membership list of the Roman Catholic Church in 1926 and became Bible Students. The Willibalds attended the meetings of the Bible Students in the Bad-Tölz district and there took part in spreading the religious teachings. They moved to Munich in 1936. Due to the lack of living space, their son, who was born in 1921, grew up in his Grandmother’s care. Their daughter, Magdalena, who was then 9 years old, remained with her parents and was brought up in the teaching of the Bible Students. She was baptised in August 1943, when her mother was already imprisoned in St. Lambrecht.
Magdalena Willibald, together with other Jehovah’s Witnesses there, distributed copies of ‘The Watchtower’ magazine during the rule of National Socialism until she and her husband were arrested by the Gestapo in their home on 3 December 1942. At the trial in 1943 she was acquitted but was nevertheless kept in custody. The Gestapo deported her to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she was given registration number 35.027.2WTA Selters i.T., letter by Willibald, Magdalena, 09-01-1945.
Her husband was indicted on suspicion of Wehrkraftzersetzung.3Demoralisation of the war effort. The Nazis made it a capital offence. As opposed to what happened to his wife, he was released from prison after a year of being kept in custody.
In May 1943 Magdalena was deported to the camp at St. Lambrecht. There is no record of the tasks imposed upon her there.
After being liberated, she travelled through Klagenfurt to Weyern in Styria, Austria. She reported to the British occupying forces in Weyern on 20 June 1945, and received a residence permit valid until 27 July 1945. Then she travelled to Salzburg. She remained in the Salzburg refugee camp until 27 August, and from there she provided a written notice of her wish to return to her homeland in Bavaria.4WTA Selters i.T., Doc. 27/08/45. There is no record of the exact date on which Magdalena Willibald arrived in Munich.
On 28 April 1953, she was granted the status of victim of religious persecution under the Nazi regime.5WTA Selters i.T., Doc. 15/06/49, identity card Nr. OB.-1681-.
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