Simone Arnold Liebster

Simone Maria (Arnold) Liebster (born 17 August 1930) was a French victim of Nazi persecution during World War II as a member of Jehovah's Witnesses. Simone was also notable as the author of a book called Facing the lion—memoirs of a young girl In Nazi Europe in which she wrote about her experiences at the hands of the Nazis.[1]

Family

Liebster was born to Adolphe Arnold and Emma Borot in Husseren-Wesserling, Haut-Rhin. In 1933, the family moved to Mulhouse.[2] She was baptized as a Jehovah's Witness in 1941.[3]

In 1951, she travelled to New York to study at the[4] Watchtower Bible School of Gilead,[5] to become a missionary. She married Max Liebster, another survivor of Nazi persecution[2][6] in 1956 and "together they have devoted their lives to their ministry and to peace education."[2][7][8]

Religious persecution

In July 1943, Liebster received a letter, from the German government, ordering her to report to the train station. She "was arrested by juvenile authorities, taken to Konstanz, Germany, and put in a Nazi penitentiary home. For nearly two years, Simone was forbidden to talk and was forced to do hard labor. Both her parents by this time had been imprisoned in Nazi camps, and none expected to live to see the family reunited. The end of the war arrived, though, and the Arnolds all returned home and rebuilt their lives."[3][9][10][11]

Filmography
  • Jehovah's Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault (1996)[12]
  • Taking the Stand: We Have More to Say (2016)[13]
  • The Schoolgirl The Nazis and The Purple Triangles (2018)[14]

Reception

Reviewing Liebster's book, Alone in front of the Lion, philosopher and religious scientist Volker Zotz wrote: "The book as a historical document is significant in at least two ways. Once it provides an insight into the way in which the Nazi system tried to reeducate children. Then it provides a new source to a group of previously rather neglected Nazi victims, the Jehovah's Witnesses. But regardless of what gaps this book of historical research may conclude, it is of the highest interest as a personal testimony. How a child, under cruel conditions, preserves her inner dignity and her belief in God and the people, even though she knows her father in the concentration camp and her mother, even though she knows that close friends must die as conscientious objectors, is one in many ways challenging reading. The child can withstand the lion, as it feels the cruel Nazi machinery, because religious and ethical values give it an unconditional support."[15]

References
  1. Liebster, Simone Arnold. (2003). Facing the lion : memoirs of a young girl in Nazi Europe (Abridged ed.). New Orleans: Grammaton Press. ISBN 0967936616. OCLC 54039319.
  2. "Biography of Founder, Simone (Arnold) Liebster". Arnold-Liebster Foundation. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  3. "SIMONE ARNOLD-LIEBSTER". Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  4. New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24BP-SXY : 15 March 2018), Simone Arnold, 1951; citing Immigration, New York City, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
  5. "Seventy Years of Gilead School". JW.org. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  6. "100 Questions—900 Answers: Interviews with Holocaust Survivors and Victims of Nazi Tyranny - Closed Shutters". Im Zeugenstand. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  7. "History class Skypes with Holocaust survivor". Paulding Progress. 25 Feb 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  8. McDonald, Adam (18 Nov 2016). "Holocaust survivor shares powerful story with Highland students". Belleville News-Democrat. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. "A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust". College of Education, University of South Florida. Florida Center for Instructional Technology.
  10. "FORWARD, YOU WITNESSES!". USHMM - The Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  11. "Oral history interview with Simone Liebster". USHMM - Collections. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  12. Jehovah's Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault (1996) at IMDb
  13. Taking the Stand: We Have More to Say (2016) at IMDb
  14. The Schoolgirl The Nazis and The Purple Triangles (2018) at IMDb
  15. Volker Zotz: Rezension zu Simone Arnold Liebster: Allein vor dem Löwen. In: Forum für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur Nr. 230 (Oktober 2003), S. 45–46 (ISSN 1680-2322).
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