How Frieda met Erik

 
 



Frieda and Hugo began a correspondence that lasted from 1920 to 1926.
(At least those are the ones that still remain. Most of the material in this chapter comes from Frieda's letters to Hugo, who in 1920 was in Stockholm (doing military service). Later he has moved to America and regained his American citizenship.)


 The first letter Frieda writes to Hugo tells him that she will be entering Training College on September 1st, 1921. Three months after Frieda enters Training, she is ordered to the mountains for five weeks to rest and tells Hugo she plans to go back to Training College after the new year. "The Lord has given me a weak body", she says.

 She also mentions that the Swiss Training College is getting a new Training College Principal in February (1922). He name was Colonel David Wickberg, from Sweden, presently Divisional Commander in Stockholm. She asks Hugo to tell her all about this officer. In the only preserved letter from Hugo to Frieda, he responds:

...we know them very little. We have so recently come home [to Sweden], and they were stationed in Germany when we were here last. – – – Both the Colonel and Mrs. Wickberg are considered very intelligent people, and the Colonel is one of Sweden's most promising officers. – – – Their two boys are handsome and bright kids. The oldest [Erik] took prizes in school most every year and looks very learned with his glasses – – – This is what I can say of them, as they are very shy.
 Frieda soon learned for herself how "shy" Erik was.

 After ending her training, she was appointed to a French corps in the Jura area. From her letter to Hugo on Aug 15, 1922, we learn that Hugo had just been to Switzerland to see her, drowning her with small presents (two watch bracelets, three boxes of chocolate, a knife and a huge bottle of Eau de Cologne). She thanks him, but says it is a little too much.

I immensely like to get things. It is one of my weaknesses and especially when they are given in the way you give, but still...it is not done you know.
Frieda with brother Leo 1924  Frieda loved Corps work, but again her body did not cooperate and she became worn out. As a result Frieda was transferred in 1923 to the Youth Department at Headquarters in Bern to do secretarial work. Not only was she still rather delicate herself, but her mother also was not well. So Frieda lived with her family and helped with the household chores in addition to her secretarial duties. 
 
 
 

(Picture of Frieda and her brother Leo in 1924.)
 At this time both of the Wickberg "smart boys" had also found work at Headquarters. The very strict Bernese authorities did not allow aliens to have paying jobs, but at the same time they would not allow the boys to go "idling". Tott was 17 and Eric was 19, and both of them were required to go to school. Tott went to a business school, but Erik showed his examination papers from the junior high school in Stockholm. That did not impress the Bernese who required him to pass a knowlege test. To Erik's great surprise (and delight) he passed. 
 Because the Salvation Army had caused this problem in the first place, they found jobs for the boys at Headquarters. Thus Frieda saw them every day, but she complains to Hugo that neither of the boys would talk to her. But the two alien families de Groot and Wickberg visited each other quite frequently, and Frieda soon got shy Erik to talk by asking him to teach her Swedish. Later she tells Hugo that she took lessons from Erik.  Actually she must have been a good student because she writes to Hugo (in Dec 1924) thanking him for two very long letters in Swedish, for which there were only two words she had to look up in the dictionary!

 Erik writes about their relationship at this time in his book Inkallad (God's Conscript):

"It seemed so strange to me that such a nice girl could be a Salvation Army Officer."

 At the time neither Erik nor Tott had anything to do with the religious work of the Army, and their only contact with it came through their parents. One day, probably after work hours, Erik walked Frieda to the tram and as usual he was arguing about the oddness of the Salvation Army and was teasing Frieda about the Army's funny  "rules and regulations." But Frieda, ever the evangelist, bluntly asked him this crucial question: "Where do you stand to the challenge of Jesus Christ?"

 Actually Erik had for quite some time felt very uneasy about this. He had been going to a French Reformed Church in order to improve his French, but he soon realized that the preaching seemed to talk to him personally. Somewhere deep inside he felt an urge to join the Christian fellowship and take up some kind of religious work.

He had tried for guidance by opening his Bible at random. He had landed on the words of Jesus in Mathew 12:30:

"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."
(Luke 11:23, New King James)
It seemed such an odd word, so he had closed the book, then opened it again, at random. But he once more landed on the same verse.

Frieda's straight question now hit him squarely. He suddenly felt an overwhelming need to settle this question. He did not dare to be the one that was against Jesus and scattered. So he locked himself up in the bathroom –– the only place where he knew he could be alone for a while – and prayed.

 Afterwards he knew his fate: God wanted him to become a Salvation Army officer. It was the last thing on earth he wanted. Erik hated the idea and could not understand what God wanted from him in the Army. He must have told himself that this was quite out of the question. Erik – who no doubt made comparisons with his very "promising" father David – told himself that he had no qualifications whatsoever: He could not sing, could not play an instrument, and could not preach. What could there be in the Salvation Army for him? But the conviction remained.

 He became a Salvation Army Soldier of the Berne 2 Corps in June 1924 and applied for Candidateship. Since his father David was Principal of the Training College in Berne, neither he nor Erik wanted him to go there, so he applied to the International Training College (ITC) in London hoping it would be too late for the next session, and also hoping he would not be accepted. After all, he had no experience of Salvation Army Corps work.

Much later he learned that the ITC session was full, but that the Chief of Staff Commissioner Higgins – who personally dealt with all applications from officers' children -- had decided that if Wickberg's son wanted to come, room must be made for him. This happened in June of 1924 and in August of the same year Erik, at the age of 20, left for London.

From now on he would be under orders. For all he knew he might never return to Switzerland and surely it would be a long time before he saw his parents or Frieda again.

This picture of Erik and Frieda, marked 1924, might suggest that the young couple were out dating. But that is not the case. 

They were together with a whole group: Frieda and her two brothers, Erik and his brother and one or two others. They were probably playing around with Erik's camera. We have a large series of pictures of  different  compositions. 

 Erik and Frieda 1924
Nevertheless, in these last months of togetherness, the relationship between Frieda and Erik bloomed. Although the word "love" was never spoken, Erik – who most surely was in love with Frieda – did not seem to be able to verbalize his feelings (probably he did not even understand them). The relationship was kept on a strictly spiritual plane. Frieda induced him to keep a diary (which now is in my keeping) and she taught him all the new and strange elements of being a Christian, a Soldier, and a Candidate for Officership. She encouraged him in every respect.

On this last day the families met for coffee. Frieda had become almost a daughter in the house of the Wickberg's (they had too sons only) and Erik's parents obviously liked her very much. But Frieda was five years older than Erik, and it probably never occurred to them that she might one day be Erik's bride. Nor did Erik allow himself to think like that.

Frieda did not come to the railway station to say good-bye, but her brother drove her as near as it was possible to come, and Erik and Frieda said a brief farewell. This was the end of their time together. Or was it?


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