On the night of January 30, 1945, Latter-day Saints Margarete Hellwig and her daughter Gudrun fought their way through the crowds that thronged the piers of the Baltic Sea port and secured passage on the Wilhelm Gustloff.  Along with thousands of other German women and children, they had fled their home in East Prussia, leaving husbands and sons to hold off the Soviet army as it advanced relentlessly toward the heart of Germany.

Originally designed as a hospital ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff had been converted into a rescue transport vessel to carry the Germans on the Eastern front across the Baltic Sea to Germany and safety.  The ship was meant to carry fewer than 2,000 passengers.  On the night Margarete and Gudrun boarded, the vessel groaned under the weight of more than 10,000.

The Hellwigs were lucky to have made it aboard the ship, and their good fortune continued—they found a place to sit next to the warm engine room, deep within the ship.  Just as they settled in, a loudspeaker announced that the ship was overloaded and that the crew was looking for volunteers to disembark before they set sail.  At that moment, Margarete received a clear impression from the Holy Ghost.  She recalled:

     It seemed as if somebody wanted to push me out.  I told my daughter, “I’m not staying in here, I’ve got to get out!”  She answered, “Mommy, it’s so warm, let’s stay here!”  “No, I’m not staying here, I have to get out!”  I was so very frightened.

Margarete followed her impression, and the two found themselves once again on shore.  They located a smaller ship that was departing at the same time and were soon at sea.

At about 9 p.m. the Wilhelm Gustloff was struck by Soviet torpedoes, and from the deck of her ship, Margarete watched it sink into the Baltic.  In what is still the most deadly maritime disaster in history, approximately 9,000 people lost their lives.  Had she ignored the prompting to get off the ship, Margarete and her daughter would have been among them.  Mother and daughter arrived safely in Berlin, where they were taken in by Church members.  Both survived the war.

(BYU Magazine, winter 2010, pgs. 53-54, Steadfast German Saints, by Nathan N. Waite)