and holds fond memories of him. Marriage and family misfortunes He married at 21. However, his wife did not understand him. She wanted to confine him to the narrow role of a respectable family man and dismissed the healings as "vagaries." Both sons, Harald and Günter, born 1931 and 1939, respectively, died at the age of nine. Although countless people had already experienced Gröning's healing, Gertrud Gröning did not believe in her husband’s healing power, instead she entrusted the children to the doctors who proved ineffective. Both boys died in the hospital, Harald in 1940 in Gdansk, and Günter in 1949 in Dillenburg. These were heavy blows of fate for Gröning and years later, he still wept when he spoke about his sons. Military service and activism Gröning was at the Russian front and a prisoner of war in World War II. He was called up to the armed forces in 1943. Here he came into conflict with his military superiors. Because he refused to shoot people, he was threatened with a court martial. In the end however, he was sent to the front anyway. He was wounded, became a Russian prisoner of war and returned to West Germany in 1945 as a refugee. Gröning’s conduct during the war was dictated by his desire to help even at the front where he used every opportunity to help his comrades and the civilian population. In a Russian village, he was able to arrange for the people dying of starvation to gain access to the army's food reserves. As a prisoner, he fought for better clothing, better food and better shelter for his fellow prisoners. Gröning helped countless men suffering from starvation edema back to health. Marital separation and dedication to humanity In December of 1945, he was freed and built a new life for himself and his family in Dillenburg in Hesse. After his second son died and his wife tried to prevent all his charitable activities, he separated from her. He wanted the healing power at his disposal to flow to all people, saying, "I don't belong to individuals. I belong to humanity." Early in 1949, his path led him to the Ruhr District. As a result of the reports of a few healed individuals, increasing numbers of people became aware of Bruno Gröning. He went from house to house, where needed, where sick people asked him for help. He