Jochen Wurfl: Eventually, our entire family was killed in the concentration camps, or somewhere by the Nazis. Everybody. My brother and I were the only two people who survived.

Surviving the Shadows: Jochen Wurfl’s Escape from the Holocaust and Holly Marie’s Unexpected Family Mystery – Episode #395

Narrator: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. This week, we’ll hear the stories of two individuals who were tragically separated from their families at an early age. Though they faced unimaginable losses, they fought to hold onto what was left of their families, and continued to seek God as they also searched for their belonging in the world.

Jochen Wurfl has seen more than his fair share of suffering. As a Holocaust survivor who experienced firsthand Hitler’s persecution of the Jewish people, and separation from his parents, Jochen clung to his brother to survive, and held onto faith that they would make it through. Holly Marie’s parents were members of a cult, who compelled them to give Holly Marie up for adoption when she was just a baby. When members of her biological family connected with her years later, there was an emotional reunion, and revelations that would forever change her life. 

Let’s begin with Jochen’s story.

Jochen: I’m Jochen Wurfl. I’m originally from Austria. I was born June 15th, 1932 in Dresden, Germany. 

Surviving as a Boy in Nazi Germany

My father, originally, was Catholic. My mother was Jewish. And when we left Austria, we really had no choice, because, as you know, Hitler came into Austria, it was called the Anschluss back in 1938. At that time, we went to Berlin, to my grandparents’, and we lived there for a while.

You know, the Nazis and Hitler, they were beginning to pick them up in Berlin. It seemed like every day, our neighbors were gone or our friends were gone, and they evidently were put on a train and were sent east. It was a very, very sad time for my family. Our friends disappeared. Our families disappeared. 

Of course, you know, like all German young people, unless you were in the Hitler Youth, you would be in a concentration camp. There were no German people who did not want to get into the Hitler Youth. If you didn’t, the Nazis would get you, would question you, “Why aren’t you in the Hitler Youth?” And next thing you knew, you were in a concentration camp somewhere. So we had no choice. 

My grandfather knew of this place, of this summer camp on the North Sea, and he knew the lady who was running the camp. She was a wonderful woman. Her name was Irma Franzen-Heinrichsdorff. For us, she was always Aunt Irma, Tante Irma. 

She knew that my brother and I were Jewish, and she was going to be with us and help us. And she did an excellent job, because many times, the Gestapo or the SS would come by the camp to check who was there, and they always questioned, “Who are these two boys?” And somehow she was always able to talk her way out of problems and just told them that she adopted us. And we joined Tante Irma’s children who already were in the Hitler Youth.

We would go to school and we’d be in school at 8:00 in the morning until 1:00. And at 1:00, we would leave this school, and we had to work. You know, at that time, all the men were in the military, so they weren’t around anymore. So after school, we would go either work on a farm or personally, I’d like to go out on a shrimp boat. I spent a lot of time on the North Sea for three, four years. I loved working with horses. We had no motorized equipment at all, we couldn’t get the gasoline anyway because that went to the military. We just worked with the horses, we plowed the field. And even though I went there when I was six years old, I didn’t leave until I was seventeen.

The Fate of Jochen’s Parents

My father worked for the president of Austria, so they were put on a train and they were taken to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp immediately north of Berlin. 

My mother, at that point, went to Czechoslovakia and lived in Prague, because that seemed to be the safest place at that particular point. Hitler came in and took over Czechoslovakia. She went back to Berlin and she rented a little apartment and she said, “I want my sons here with me, at least for a while.” So we left the camp in northern Germany and went back to live with my mother. 

We were on a mission for my mother to deliver an envelope to a certain person. My mother told us which subway to take, where to change subways. And when we came out of the exit, there would be a gentleman there who would have a code name. [She said], “You give him that envelope, and he will give an envelope to you in return.” Now, of course, what was going on here [was that] my father in the concentration camp somehow used an SS man. So my father and my mother were corresponding through illegal means. 

Now, when my brother and I took the subway, we went back home, right around the corner from the subway station, we saw all the Gestapo and SS vehicles parked or standing in front of our building. Now a lot of people lived in those buildings, so we decided that we were going to wait right there on the corner with this envelope that we had. And we’d wait until the Gestapo would leave, and then we’d ask our mother what was going on. 

All of a sudden, there came the Gestapo with my mother, they put her in one of their cars, and drove off. And she was arrested. 

My brother Peter and I spent about three days—and through various sources, we found out what prison my mother was taken to. And my brother and I went to the prison. There were a lot of guards there, but no one was worried about two little kids at that point. We found the cell where my mother was, and she said, “Boys, be good at school. Learn as much as you can. Pay attention. I know you love me and I love you. I want you to leave right now because I am afraid you’re going to be arrested and you’re going to be sent along with me.” We never talked to our mother again. We never saw her again. She was taken to Auschwitz and she was killed there.

“We found the cell where my mother was, and she said, ‘Boys, be good at school. Learn as much as you can. Pay attention. I know you love me and I love you. I want you to leave right now because I am afraid you’re going to be arrested and you’re going to be sent along with me.’ We never talked to our mother again. We never saw her again. She was taken to Auschwitz and she was killed there.” – Jochen Wurfl 

My father, being a political prisoner, wasn’t immediately killed because he was young enough and strong enough, so he was put to work. My father marched with a group of other prisoners every morning from the concentration camp to another building where they built airplanes.

He was quite clever, and he escaped twice from the concentration camp. My father was caught and was put back into the concentration camp, and he was punished by the commander of the camp himself.

He was made what they call a shoe loifer, where they have to go into a huge circle, and they would have to wear certain boots—the boots were wrong size—and put a huge pack of stones and rocks on their back, and then they had to walk all day long in this circle in these shoes, which were just about killing their feet, of course, and carrying all the rocks and stuff that they put on their back. And usually, they would die doing this after a week or two. And the reason they made the prisoners wear the boots is to find out what leather would be the best to manufacture the proper boots for the military people.

And then my father was transferred from there to Mauthausen, which is right at the border of Austria. That’s where he spent the last year or so of his concentration camp life, until the Americans freed him. He had been in the camps so long. He was a man who weighed about 160, 170 pounds when he was healthy. And when he got out, I understand he only weighed about eighty-five pounds. And both of his lungs…he only lasted a short while.

Eventually, our entire family was killed in the concentration camps, or somewhere by the Nazis. Everybody. My brother and I were the only two people who survived.

“Eventually, our entire family was killed in the concentration camps, or somewhere by the Nazis. Everybody. My brother and I were the only two people who survived.” – Jochen Wurfl

Building a New Life After the War

We tried very hard to get out of Germany, my brother and I. Three years after the war, the U.S. Army in southern Germany called us and said, “We found your dad’s record, that he worked with the President of Austria. And we also know what happened to your mom. So if you boys want to come to America, we’ll be happy to have you.”

That was probably the happiest day of my life when we landed in LaGuardia and I knew that I was in this country, a country where we had freedom, where you had democracy. Coming from Germany, from the Second World War, the difference was so immense. It was just a wonderful thing for us to be in this country. And I still feel that way to this day. 

“That was probably the happiest day of my life when we landed in LaGuardia and I knew that I was in this country, a country where we had freedom, where you had democracy. Coming from Germany, from the Second World War, the difference was so immense.” – Jochen Wurfl 

I was in this country for three years, and by then I had, of course, learned the language and was working in the insurance business. And then I was drafted by the U.S. Army during the Korean War. We were all ready to go to Korea and I guess they found in my personal records that I was from Germany originally and that I spoke German. So they called me in and they said, “Well, instead of Korea, we’re going to send you to Germany, because we need interpreters in Germany in the U.S. Army.” That was the best thing and the luckiest thing that happened to me, because I think about one third of the people that I took basic training with did not come back. They were killed over in Korea. 

I was stationed in the headquarters company of the first Infantry Division in Wurzburg, Germany. One day, the company commander called me into his office and said, “We would very much like to have you be in the color guard for the first Infantry Division.” And I said, “That’s wonderful. I consider that a tremendous compliment to carry the American flag, to be in the color guard.”

And when the ten year anniversary came around of D-Day, they told me that the color guard would go to Normandy along with all the color guards and honor troops of all the Allied countries who fought in the war and liberated Europe. So I got to go there, and we marched in front of Churchill and Eisenhower and de Gaulle and all these people who came to the anniversary day. 

I still remember when I was twelve years old back in Germany, and we heard then on the BBC that the troops had landed successfully in Normandy. And here all these years later, I was in the color guard in Normandy to celebrate the success of the invasion. The sun was rising over the channel, and we stood there lowering the flags, listening to the tides. It was just an unbelievable experience.

“I still remember when I was twelve years old back in Germany, and we heard then on the BBC that the troops had landed successfully in Normandy. And here all these years later, I was in the color guard in Normandy to celebrate the success of the invasion. The sun was rising over the channel, and we stood there lowering the flags, listening to the tides. It was just an unbelievable experience.” – Jochen Wurfl

A Life Full of Gratitude

I lived such a good life in this country. I wanted to build something. I wanted to do something. I lived here and worked up a nice business. Eventually after I think about twenty or thirty years, we belonged to the 200 largest insurance agencies in this country. 

I got married. I married a beautiful girl, she once was Miss El Salvador. We had three children, three girls, Odette, Dana, and Lisa. 

I was so happy in this country. I lived such a good life in this country because of the philosophy of politics here and so on. It was just a phenomenal thing. I was so blessed in this country and by my life as a whole. 

“I was so blessed in this country and by my life as a whole.” – Jochen Wurfl 

Narrator: To learn more about the Holocaust and Jochen Wurfl’s story, check out his book, My Two Lives. 

Stay tuned to Holly Marie’s story after a brief message.

---

Give the Gift Of The Bible

It goes without saying, but the Bible has changed so many lives. Take a second to think about if you didn’t have access to a Bible or the freedom to own one. This is a reality that many are facing. That’s why I want to tell you about one of our partners, Cru [Campus Crusade for Christ]. Cru has missionaries in almost every country, and they’re seeing people come to know Jesus.

There’s just one thing they’re missing: a Bible in their own language. One missionary said, “I’ve never seen such a thirst for the Word of God in my country.”

For only $24 a month, you can provide three people with Bibles each and every month. When you sign up to provide three Bibles with a monthly gift of $24, as a thank you, Cru will provide meals to 12 hungry individuals through their humanitarian aid ministry. Plus, you’ll receive a free copy of our Jesus Listens devotional. Simply text “Calling” to 71326 to help today.

Imagine just how much this gift could change someone’s life. So text “Calling” to 71326 to help now or visit www.give.cru.org. Messaging and data rates may apply. Available to U.S. Addresses only. 

---

Celebrate Easter with Jesus Calling

Experience the hope of the resurrection with Jesus Calling for Easter. This book offers 50 seasonally-themed devotions from Sarah Young’s New York Times bestseller Jesus Calling. Inside, you’ll find resurrection truths, hope for the new season, joyous reasons to celebrate, and full Scripture verses. 

Get your copy to create a daily reflection of hope throughout the Easter season. Jesus Calling for Easter also makes a wonderful gift to be cherished for years to come.

---

Our next guest is Holly Marie. At only ten months old, Holly was brought to the door of a church by three women from a nomadic religious group. Adopted by the church’s pastor and raised in a loving home, many questions about her biological parents remained a mystery. In 2022, Holly discovered that not only had she been a missing person for over forty years, but also about the sad outcome of her parents’ lives.

Holly Marie: Hello, I am Holly Marie. I am a wife, a mother to five children, and a grandma to two grandsons and one granddaughter who is due March 17th. I praise God for all my family, for they are all my greatest treasures of life. 

As a child, I grew up knowing that my biological parents, Dean and Tina Clouse, gave me up for adoption as an infant to join a nomadic religious group. My adopted dad always told me—even in sermons as he pastored—what a special gift from God that I truly am. As I got older, I began to realize that the nomadic religious group who believed in giving their children up and giving up all their possessions to follow God, was actually called a cult. I knew in my heart God would never ask me to give up my children as an obedient act to Him. I could see giving up all my possessions, but never my children, His gifts to us all. 

Connecting With a Family She Never Knew

The day I found out I was missing for over forty years, I was working as a server at a deli and grill. A Lewisville Detective, Craig Holloman, and a Texas Attorney General, Mindy Montford, came to inform me that my biological parents, Dean and Tina Clouse, had been murdered and were found unidentified in January 1981. They were later identified as genetic DNA technology evolved because a member of their family, my dad’s sister—who is my Aunt Debbie—donated DNA and matched in 2021. When my Aunt Debbie was informed about the murders, she asked, “What about the baby?” And so began the missing children’s search for me. 

My first reaction to my parents’ murders was overwhelming grief. I was handed my parents’ picture of us, last seen before our disappearance, in October of 1980. I finally got to put a face to only a name I had known. My tears couldn’t stop flowing. I was then informed about their family, who had been searching and praying for me to be found, and wanted to meet me that very day via Zoom call. Immediately, I felt overwhelming joy that my biological family actually searched and prayed for me to be found and wanted to meet me. I found out in the Zoom call that day, unbeknownst to the detectives, that I was found on my biological dad’s birthday, June 7th, 2022. 

“I felt overwhelming joy that my biological family actually searched and prayed for me to be found and wanted to meet me.” – Holly Marie 

Since our family reunification with my biological family, my family tree grew immensely overnight. We all have embraced one another and are one big, happy family—my adopted and biological family, as my adopted dad came with me to meet them all. I talk and pray weekly with them all. I praise God every day for blessing me with an adopted and biological family who both loved me and prayed with me, and always have my whole life. 

“I praise God every day for blessing me with an adopted and biological family who both loved me and prayed with me, and always have my whole life.” – Holly Marie 

We are all part of an organization that evolved out of the search for me called Genealogy for Justice, and a memorial fund in my parents’ honor has been established called the Dean and Tina Linn Clouse Memorial Fund. The donations given to the organization are used to identify and solve more cold cases like my parents’. My grandma Donna’s heart’s desire, as well as mine, was to turn my parents’ tragedy into miracles for other families. I praise God for the opportunity to meet and get to know my grandma Donna, and to get to know my parents through her memories shared with me before she passed away.

I have so many unanswered questions in our ongoing investigation. I pray God leads witnesses to come forward. I’m at a place in life where I can reconcile their murders and know that God gave them justice, even if I don’t get to see it until heaven. 

A Life of Praying and Sharing

I first started my prayer journals in 2016, with my first prayer asking God to help me share my story with all who will listen. Of course, I had no idea the grand story God would lay upon my heart to share, but I did know I had a message to offer of holding onto faith in God and never giving up hope in God through the storms of life. I praise God for the platform He has opened up for me to share my story. This is an honor that I don’t deserve, but shows how great our God is, and that He bestows His greatness upon all those who call upon His name, not because we earn it or deserve it, but because He loves us that much. I urge everyone to start a prayer journal, record all your prayers and praises daily, so you can see God at work in your life and the lives of whom you pray for. 

“I praise God for the platform He has opened up for me to share my story. This is an honor that I don’t deserve, but shows how great our God is, and that He bestows His greatness upon all those who call upon His name, not because we earn it or deserve it, but because He loves us that much.” – Holly Marie

This is a prayer from Jesus Listens, January 4th:

All-knowing God, 

I delight in the truth that I am fully known! You know  absolutely everything about me, yet You love me with perfect,  unfailing Love. I’ve spent many years searching for greater self understanding and self-acceptance. Underlying this search is the  desire to find someone who truly understands me and accepts  me as I am. I’ve discovered that You are the Someone who can  satisfy my deep-seated longing. In my relationship with You, I  become more completely who I really am. 

As I take time to soak in  this powerful Love, it fills up my empty spaces and overflows  into joyous worship. I rejoice that I am perfectly known and  forever loved! 

In Your loving Name, Jesus, 

Amen 

Narrator: To learn more about Holly Marie, check out her book, Finding Baby Holly: Lost to a Cult, Surviving My Parents’ Murders, and Saved by Prayer. If anyone has any information, please email the Missing Persons and Cold Case unit at babyhollytips@oag.texas.gov. 

If you’d like to hear more stories about family connections, check out our Peace in Uncertain Times YouTube video with Ellie Holcomb.

---

Next week:  Anita Renfroe

Next time on the Jesus Calling Podcast, we’ll hear from comedian and entertainer Anita Renfroe, who shares how she went from being a church pianist to a touring comedian, and how she cherishes the opportunity to connect with others through the joy of laughter.

Anita Renfroe: I feel like laughter, as Anne Lamott says, is carbonated holiness. And if you get in the presence of it, you change. You feel like there’s hope. I love that hope is embedded in laughter