![]() So much strength that it is possible to bear any suffering,Ī strength far stronger than all the might of the world. Rob a man of the faith and his own free will. Neither prison nor chains nor sentence of death can He was beatified in 2007 in a ceremony attended by his widow and surviving children. His sacrifice, seemingly fruitless in his own time, would illuminate the path of generations to come. This hidden life the life of Franz Jagerstatter is a portrait of quiet courage, a dramatic statement of the power of one person against a mighty tyranny, a stark and yet beautiful. In time, however, his story spread, and he was recognized as a heroic witness to conscience. For years, his story was little known beyond his family and fellow villagers. Jagerstatter was 36 years old when he died. And I have every hope that I need not fear the eternal Judge because of this crime.”įranz was beheaded on August 9, 1943. Imprisoned in March of 1943, Jagerstatter was convicted of undermining military morale by inciting the refusal to perform the required service in the German army, and condemned to death in July of 1943 by the Reich’s Military Tribunal. On their honeymoon, they received a papal blessing from Pope Pius XI. He married Franziska Schwaninger on Holy Thursday 1936. This is their wedding photograph./Styria Verlag. In the parish church of St Radegund,Upper Austria Franz Jgersttter was baptised here he married and. But he took comfort in the knowledge that “not everything which the world considers a crime is a crime in the eyes of God. Franz and Franziska Jagerstatter after they returned from Rome, probably in April or May 1936. Written by Dr Erna Putz Translated by Michael Duggan. In this case, obedience to Christ meant disobedience to the state. In prison, he spurned ongoing appeals to save himself, convinced that he could not prolong his life at the price of his immortal soul. But Franz believed the Nazis were a satanic movement and that any compromise would constitute a mortal sin. They had each advised him to do his duty and serve his Fatherland. Before taking this stand he had sought counsel from his parish priest and even the local bishop. In 1943, when served with an induction notice, Franz turned himself in and announced his refusal to take a military oath. He was also known as a fervent opponent of the Nazis-the only member of his village to vote against the 1938 Anschluss that incorporated Austria into “Greater Germany.” Nevertheless, his singular act of resistance came as a surprise. ![]() Radegund as a man of honesty and principle, devoted to his family and his faith, a sacristan in his parish church, who in 1940 had joined the Third Order of St. Conscientious objector, martyr (1907–1943)įranz Jägerstätter, an Austrian peasant and devout Catholic, was executed for refusing to serve in Hitler’s army. ![]()
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