His Last Journey

On January 26, 1959, Bruno Gröning passed away in Paris

Diagnosis: advanced stomach cancer

In late autumn, 1958, Bruno Gröning drove to Paris with his second wife Josette, whom he had married in May, 1955. Gröning allowed himself to be examined by Dr. Pierre Grobon, a friend and cancer specialist. The X-rays revealed advanced stomach cancer. Dr. Grobon wanted to operate immediately, but Bruno Gröning refused.

He drove back to Germany and prepared the Christmas celebrations for his communities. On December 4, he made a tape recording, which was to be played at all the Christmas celebrations. He then returned to Paris once again with his wife. In the meantime, Dr. Grobon had informed Dr. Bellanger, the respected cancer surgery specialist. On December 8, Bruno Gröning underwent surgery in Dr. Bellanger’s clinic in the Rue Henner, not far from Montmartre. The outcome shocked the doctors. Gröning’s condition was much, much worse than suggested by the X-rays - inoperable. The incision was immediately closed again.

Amazingly speedy recovery

Josette Gröning wrote the following about this: “They are unable to make sense of the fact that Bruno's external appearance reveals so little of his terrible inner suffering, that he can still breathe normally, and that his metabolism in the last few weeks has continued to function so perfectly. His blood results were excellent. In this advanced stage, usually the patient vomits repeatedly if they eat even the smallest amount of sustenance, and the severely-tested patient slowly starves to death. With Bruno there has been none of this.”

To the astonishment of his doctors, he recovered very fast and drove back to Germany, where he took part in the Christmas celebrations. In mid-January, he met with the representatives of the newly formed Association for three days and gave directions about how the work should be built up. The two had not the slightest idea that it was to be their last meeting with Bruno Gröning.

Operation in Paris accompanied by a thunderstorm

On January 21, he flew back to Paris. Due to an obstruction of his large colon, an operation was unavoidable. On January 22, 1959, at 9 AM, at the same time as the appeal hearing in Munich began, Bruno Gröning underwent surgery once again. He had to endure that which he had spared countless other people; he couldn’t and wasn’t allowed to help himself.

As he lay under anesthesia on this morning, suddenly there was a violent thunderstorm over Paris. Gröning's wife reported, "What is strange is the following natural phenomenon. On January 22nd, while my husband was still under anesthesia, a shadow was cast over the cheerful and happy mood of the day by a thunderstorm, which very suddenly broke out over Paris with lightning and thunderclaps. It got so dark that we had to turn on the lights in the broad daylight. The nurse expressed her astonishment at such a severe thunderstorm. In the days following the operation, Bruno's temperature, blood pressure, pulse were completely normal. He even got up twice and sat in an armchair!”

“Totally burnt up inside”

On the 25th he fell into a coma, and on the following day, the January 26, 1959, at 13:46, Bruno Gröning died in the Henner Clinic, of cancer, as the doctor wrote on the death certificate. Was it really cancer? After the second operation, Dr. Bellanger had said, “The damage in Bruno's body is terrible; he is totally burnt up inside. How he could live so long and without suffering terrible pain is a mystery to me.”

Years before, Bruno Gröning had said, “If I am prevented from doing my work, I will burn up inside.”

Obituary

How Bruno Gröning bore his bitter fate is revealed in a letter which Dr. Grobon sent to his widow on February 26, 1959. “These [doctors’ efforts on Bruno Gröning’s behalf] were only natural, and I think I can say, that they received an immense support through the courage and the strength of will of the great person of Bruno Gröning. (…)”

In 1974, Dr. Bellanger expressed his admiration of Bruno Gröning in a letter: “Bruno Gröning was a man with heart, a valuable man, who held his own; and his dignity in the face of suffering and death arouses admiration in me even today.”

After the cremation of the body, the final verdict was never handed down

Bruno Gröning’s body was cremated in a crematorium in Paris and the urn with his ashes laid to rest in the Forest Cemetery in Dillenburg.

The court case was declared closed, due to the death of the defendant, and a final verdict was never pronounced.

Everyone may experience help and healing from within themselves

The "Miracle doctor of Herford", who had brought healing to uncounted thousands of people, died alone and rejected in a small street in Paris. Why did this have to be? Why did he have to suffer such bitterness? Why was he unable to save himself?

Grete Häusler (1922-2007, long-standing assistant to Bruno Gröning who had received healing, and founder of the “Bruno Gröning Circle of Friends”,) wrote in her book To Experience Salvation, That is Truth: “In the short time Bruno Gröning was here on the earth, he brought about a lot of good. The gift of helping and healing was something he was born with. Everywhere he went, wonderful things happened. These couldn't be explained intellectually. He came to public attention in 1949. After the big healings, which occurred in Herford, he was spoken of both in Germany and abroad. But after three months, he was prohibited from healing. He was persecuted and hounded; a lawsuit was even filed against him. Why? To whom had he done something bad? No one, but he had done so much good for thousands of people, good which they could not have received from any other person. Innocent, and they wanted to punish him! Innocent, and they wanted to prevent him from doing what God had commanded him to do – to help humankind! He had to bear the bitterness of this malice in Paris, in the cancer clinic in the Rue Henner! Suffering bitter pain, he was burnt up internally by the healing energy which he was no longer permitted to pass on. The laws of man wanted to forbid him to do this in Germany. Facing all the lies and slander, he stood there accused, like a criminal! Silent and alone, no friend was aware of it, he bore all the suffering of humankind. And the point was to bear it; it was not done in vain! It had to be that way. Any other way, and it would not have been possible to help humankind.”

And in her book, I Live So That Mankind Can Go On Living she wrote, “We should be very careful when using the word 'victim'. But here, when Bruno Gröning died in Paris this word, with all its gravity, is the truth.”

Only in this way could his words be fulfilled, as countless success reports bear witness today: “When I am no longer on this earth as a person, that is, when I have laid aside my body, then humankind will have come far enough, that each person will be able to experience help and healing from within themselves.”