Saved by his Bible - a family history

The Bible that saved a life

An amazing family story has been contributed to the Europeana 1914-1918 website by Prof. Gottfried Geiler from Leipzig. In 1917 a Bible saved the life of his father, Kurt Geiler, an infantryman.

In the never-ending trench warfare in the north-east of France Kurt Geiler was sleeping as usual with his Bible beneath his head. A direct hit destroyed his dug-out almost completely, dead and wounded were everywhere. Geiler was not injured and could get out of the rubble. Later he found his Bible again and to his astonishment there was a large piece of shell shrapnel wedged inside. Without the Bible, this would have smashed his head. Since that time, this Bible has been an important memento of the family.

(Text by Frank Drauschke)