 Giertz stated that his father eventually became Christian after attending the Sunday services that were obligatory in order for the teen-aged Bo and his siblings to be eligible for confirmation; although Giertz was now formally enrolled in the church, he remained an atheist, read widely from his father's library of atheist literature and argued with the priest in favour of evolutionary biology.His parents took his early education seriously.Every summer his father would hire a governess from Germany or England, and they were to speak to the children only in German or English, respectively.