The Lessons of Helmuth Huebener, Youngest Resistance Figure Executed by the Nazis
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Instructor Alan Keele discovered the Huebener case in a German novel in 1971. Because almost all the surviving eyewitnesses had emigrated to Salt Lake City after World War Two, "this was the place" to research the case. His research partner, Professor of History Douglas Tobler of BYU then discovered a complete dossier on the case in the American Documents Center in West Berlin.

Keele and Tobler's colleague, Professor of Russian at BYU Tom Rogers, used their first draft of an article in Sunstone entitled "The Fuehrer's New Clothes" to write a play entitled "Huebener" performed to very receptive audiences at BYU.

Eventually Bookcraft published a (shortish) book entitled: "The Price: The True Story of A Mormon Who Defied Hitler." A complete book then appeared in the University of Illinois Press entitled: "When Truth Was Treason." A German version was entitled: "Jugendliche gegen Hitler (Youth Against Hitler)."

A PBS documentary entitled "Truth and Conviction" appeared in 2002, directed by Matt Whitaker. Matt and his  team battled through the housing crash of '08 and the Covid pandemic to raise money for a feature film, finally succeeding (beyond Keele's wildest dreams!) in premiering "Truth and Treason" in 2025.

After all the twists and turns, the case is simple: how can one find the truth in a sea of lies and summon the courage boldly to proclaim it, even when doing so could be fatal. No message may be more timely in today's world.