They Wouldn’t Even Be Seen with Me

My name is Walter and I come from a small village near Wetzlar. There are 1,000 inhabitants and everyone knows everyone.

In the late ’80s, I learned about Scientology because I wanted to solve all my problems. I became known as a Scientologist, had to step back from my position as a politician in the municipality and, from that point on, I was avoided by other people. My school friend was also in politics and, since then, he wished no further contact with me and looked at me with nothing but contempt. That was the final consequence of a friendship that had existed since my youth. And solely because I was in Scientology, or am a Scientologist, it ended overnight.

For acquaintances and friends, it wasn’t good to be seen near me or publicly in my presence. Individual conversations with them were quite normal, but when several people were standing together, it wasn’t “appropriate” to have a Scientologist in their midst.

That was sometimes very frustrating because I was known as a business owner in the village. This is my business that I started with my father in 1975—with a capacity of 15 tons of laundry per day. I had about 80 employees and had the problem every year that, for inexplicable reasons, we had cancellations of jobs which I couldn’t explain. I had to acquire new customers again and again to simply maintain the conditions for the workforce. It also happened that I wanted to hire a forewoman. And she said, “Wonderful that I found a new job. I’ll come by at such-and-such a time.” At the end of the talks, she said, “I’m sorry. I can’t come. I talked to my mother,” who works in the city administration and she said that I was a Scientologist and she wouldn’t let her get a job with me. And to learn about that is very bitter because you are an honest person and want to do honest work. And I don’t wish this experience on anyone.