A fascinating chapter in the storied life of the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris is the period of the German occupation of Paris. In June 1940, as Nazi forces approached the city, the Dean and many parishioners of the cathedral fled Paris. The parishioners who remained continued to have services under the direction of Organist-Choirmaster Lawrence Whipp (1889-1945). (He was at the cathedral from 1921-1945 and his story is another interesting saga.) After the entry of the US into the war in December 1941, Mr. Whipp was arrested and sent to an interment camp, and church services were suspended. The cathedral property was then requisitioned by the German military authorities as their Protestant Military Chapel. The German Lutheran clergyman who served as chief pastor, the Rev. Rudolf Damrath, orchestrated the release of Mr. Whipp from the detention camp, and the cathedral was quite well taken care of and much used throughout the occupation. Pastor Damrath's daughter Maria Luise Damrath of Berlin has a great interest in her father's time at the cathedral and contributed material to the monumental history of the cathedral by Cameron Allen that was published in 2012, The History of the American Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Paris (1815-1980). The book is also available online here.

On February 17 and 18, in the context of a Cathedral Choir trip to Berlin, cathedral archivist and choir member Kate Thweatt, cathedral magazine Trinité co-editor and choir member Nancy Janin, and Archdeacon Baer visited with Frau Damrath. Frau Damrath attended the Evensong at the Berliner Dom (Protestant cathedral), at which the choir members sang, and the following day she invited the three visitors to her home. The group learned many interesting details of her father's life and of her own fascinating life, and received copies of documents and photographs.

The Cathedral Choir sang Evensong in the Berliner Dom together with the English Choir of Berlin. This choir will visit Paris in May and sing at the American Cathedral and at Notre Dame.