Near the Danube Bridge

Kalman Hartig (1930-2021) was born into an affluent family in the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He was exposed to music, art, and literature at a young age. After joining the American Seventh-day Adventist movement that had been sweeping through war-torn Europe, he discovered how difficult life would be living in what would become communist Yugoslavia while adhering to his religious beliefs. He was sentenced to two years hard labor for being a conscientious objector. He drew from his knowledge of Bible stories and classical music works to preserve his sanity and his life. After surviving the cruelty of the labor camps, he naively believed that he had proved his faith to God. Little did he know what new challenges lay ahead. His wife, Hermina (Minka) Kirchner, experienced her own war horrors as a child. Kalman and Minka and their children escaped the communist regime. Together they struggled, loved, and healed.