THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC
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Faith and hope, on a butterfly's wings


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By Lisa Bourne, New Smyrna Beach


Anni Adams
"I used to pray to God to let me forget those things. It's not that bad anymore," said Anni Adams who recently spoke to The Florida Catholic about her youth in Luxembourg during World War II. Hers is a story of faith, strength and love. At age 78, Adams is not finished living life or lifting up that of another.

When Lonnie D. Story walked into the Six Sisters flower shop in New Smyrna Beach in April of 2003, he didn't expect to find anything more than flowers for his sister. What he came upon brought him out of a darkness that he said threatened his very life. Story had been dealt some terrible blows. He was losing his brother and his sister. His paralegal business had hit a slow patch.

"Emotionally," he said, "I'd pretty well had it."

The woman behind the counter had an accent that he took for German. As they began to talk, he learned she was from Luxembourg, and that she had many stories. He didn't mind. It was a nice diversion. Story went from disbelief in some of what he was hearing to a feeling that he was on to something special.

Her name was Anni Adams, a Catholic war bride who not only survived Nazi horrors; she had gone on to a full, happy life. While ordinary to her, it was peppered with regular meetings with people of world renown. The everyday circumstances of most of the encounters, and her innocent recounting of them later led someone to inform Story that he'd found the female Forrest Gump.

Story's paralegal business cards included "biographer," and "writer." He aspired to produce biographies for families, dreaming of telling the stories of the "Greatest Generation." Of all the movies about World War II, Story said, "Nobody had told the story of what happens to the people who had been occupied." He offered Adams his business card and left the shop, eventually putting the meeting out of his mind.

Adams eventually called him, remaining hesitant, thinking, "Why should you write about me? I'm nobody special." It seemed an invasion of privacy. Adams says now she probably made the call out of loneliness. Eventually, Story would tell her to just talk and he would write. Regarding their meeting that day in the flower shop, the two agree. "There's no such thing as coincidences. Everything is for a purpose," Story said.

After weeks and months of poring over her memories of that difficult time, the fruits of their labor were put forth in a book they self-published nearly a year ago, "The Meeting of Anni Adams — The Butterfly of Luxembourg."
The book, which they are now promoting, displays how faith and family were the foundation of Adams' upbringing, and fueled her survival through evacuation into France and years of German occupation in Luxembourg.

Born Anni Neuman on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1926, in Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, Adams' name and the names of her family would later be changed by the Nazis to look less French and more German. She was a happy and energetic child and her parents nurtured her free spirit.

Her father, Albert, was an Olympic gymnast and iron-factory worker, her mother a homemaker. She and her two younger brothers were brought up in a loving home with extended family present. By the time she was 10 she was well traveled and spoke three languages.

Adams' family instilled in her the gift of a "mind set on wisdom and a heart fixed on faith."

Like other Catholics from Luxembourg, she participated in the annual pilgrimage to Coq-Sur-Mer, begun in 1666. It had become a basis for people to renew their faith and honor Our Lady as their protector. This celebration was one of countless that would be stomped out during the German occupation.

Two days before Pentecost, on May 10, 1940, the Neumans were given three hours to evacuate their home, carrying all they could in pillowcases. The family walked through the night and on for days. Pentecost Mass was celebrated and Communion was given to them and hundreds of other refugees on a farm along the evacuation route in France. Adams' family and the other refugees were bombed as they ran through a field for a waiting train that moved back and forth to avoid further artillery hits. She saw a man blown up in front of her.

The train ride was even worse. Some didn't make it to the end. They spent four and a half months in horrible conditions across the border of France before being displaced back to Luxembourg, where the Germans had taken over.

Adams was angered by the persecution of the Jews. It went against her Catholic faith, she said. She eventually delivered letters and food for the resistance. "I trusted my gut feeling," she said. "I had to, to survive."

Soldiers monitored Mass and hid in confessionals, threatening priests with death, to catch anyone admitting sins against the government. "I still shiver today if I have to go (to confession) in a booth," she said.

The book recounts how she and various family members suffered near-brushes with death, were placed in labor camps and government prisons and witnessed the atrocities of war.

The book also follows her family's story after the war, including her marriage to an American G.I. and immigration to New York.

In bringing Adams' story to print, Adams and Story have each taken a leap of faith to have the book self-published. They want to spread hope. "I know in my heart that God gave me these words," said Story. He is passionate about telling Adams' story. "I'll go until God says stop."

It's been emotional for Adams, too. "Don't ever think you're done learning as long as you live," she said. Despite the horror of the war, her greatest struggle has been the loss of her family members since. Adams asks God for guidance on her regular walks, and prays while she arranges flowers.

She focuses on "How good God has been to me. He kept me alive! I was shot at, pushed at … but he was always there."

Adams' story is not over, neither are the meetings with her biographer. While they continue to work promoting the book, more is accomplished with their enduring friendship. Through Story's familiarity with Scripture, he has brought a new faith dimension to Adams. Likewise, she has shown him the power of faith through sheer strength of will.

Fittingly, Adams has the closing quote in the book: "I've always walked close to God and he never let me down."