One hundred years ago this month, an unspeakable evil emerged in one of Europe’s most cultured and religious countries. In May 1924, the Nazi Party won seats for the first time in Germany’s national legislature. The Nazis were a racist, fascist, and nationalist political party that believed fanatically in Germany’s ethnic superiority over other nations. Among its founding members was Adolph Hitler. One year later, Hitler and his followers seized control of the party and he declared himself its undisputed leader or “fuhrer.”
While Adolph Hitler was building a power structure rooted in hatred, bigotry, and violence, Franz Jägerstätter (1907-1943) was working on the farm owned by his adopted parents in a small village in Austria. Franz was the typical teenager. He was flirtatious, mischievous, and high spirited. He was the first person in town to own a motorcycle. But he was also known for his hard work and kindness toward others.
In 1933, the same year that Hitler rose to power in German politics, Franz Jägerstätter inherited the family farm. In 1936, as Hitler defied international law and began persecuting minority groups and people with disabilities, Franz fell in love, got married, and made a honeymoon pilgrimage to Rome. Franz and his wife, Franziska, then had three daughters. She was a deeply religious person who encouraged her husband to read the Bible and study the lives of the saints. After a long faith journey, Franz became sacristan at his parish church and joined the Third Order of Saint Francis of Assisi.
As a sign of his deepening faith, Franz Jägerstätter was the only person in his village to vote against Germany’s takeover of Austria in 1938. Two years later, he was drafted into military service. Following an intervention by his hometown mayor, Franz was temporarily exempted from active service because he was a farmer. Although never part of any organized resistance movement, Franz became convinced that Nazism was an evil ideology that must be confronted by all people of faith and good conscience. So when called again to active duty in 1943, Franz offered to serve as a medic, but he refused to fight or pledge allegiance to Hitler.
Later that year, Franz Jägerstätter was arrested, convicted of treason, and brutally executed. Before his death, Franz wrote: “God gives so much strength to those who love him and who give priority to eternity, rather than to the world. Neither prison, nor chains, nor sentence of death, can separate me from the love of God; or take away my faith and free will. The power of God cannot be overcome.” After the war, Franz Jägerstätter’s sacrifice faded from memory. But in 1964, a biography was published. Thomas Merton then wrote about him. A television movie soon followed. In 1997, his conviction and death sentence were overturned by a court. and in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI beatified him and declared him a martyr for the faith.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, all believers are obligated to give witness to God’s truth in both word and deed. The catechism then says: “Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death.” Few among us will be called to this supreme witness. But like Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, an ordinary farmer and family man, we can all do our part to kindle the light of conscience during the darkest times. We can all raise our hearts and voices in opposition to hatred, cruelty, and division. and we can all pray for the courage to truly live our faith without counting the cost — even unto death.
Brother Patrick is a diocesan hermit and associate minister in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport. He can be reached at brpatrick@ccgronline.com.