Miscellaneous

?I can say from my own experience how painful life often is when one lives as a halfway Christian; it it more like vegetating than living.? Franz Jagerstatter, circa 1936.

Last October, the Catholic Church beatified Franz Jagerstatter. This means he is one step away from being recognized as Saint Franz Jagerstatter. What strikes me about his life and death is his courage in the face of evil and his refusal to cooperate or compromise with evil.

Franz was born in Austria in 1907. By the time the Nazis arrived in 1938 to annex Austria, he was a husband and a farmer. He recognized the Nazi movement as evil. He could have kept his views to himself. Instead, he opposed the Nazis, casting the only vote in his town against the Anschluss. His reaction to Austrian approval of the Anschluss: ?I believe that what took place in the spring of 1938 was not much different from what happened that Holy Thursday 1,900 years ago when the crowd was given a free choice betwen the innocent Savior and the criminal Barabbas.?

He openly denounced Hitler; when greeted by a ?Heil,? he usually responded ?Pfui Hitler.? (I?m not sure of the translation of ?pfui,? but I?m sure it?s a four-letter word.)

When the Nazis offered cash allotments to Austrian families, Franz refused the money. When a severe hailstorm destroyed most of his crops, he refused Nazi subsidies.

In 1940, he was drafted and reported for six months of military training. On his return home, he vowed disobedience to future conscription letters. When he was called up again, he sought advice from his priest and his bishop. They advised him to avoid execution by offering minimal cooperation with the Nazis. They reminded him of his responsibility to his wife and three daughters, and told him he would have no moral culpability if he joined the military and just followed orders.

He rejected their advice. On March 1, 1943, he presented himself to the military and stated his refusal to serve. He offered to work instead as a medical orderly, but the Nazis refused. He was imprisoned for two months in Austria, then transferred to Berlin. On July 6, 1943, he was tried and sentenced to death. During his imprisonment, his wife, his lawyer, and his priest tried to change his mind. But his mind was not changed, and on August 9, 1943, at 4:00 in the afternoon, he was beheaded.

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Sources:

• Catholic Peace Fellowship, In the Light of Eternity: Franz Jagerstatter, Martyr
• Paul Bellan-Boyer, Franz Jagerstatter, Martyr
• Robert Royal, Austrian Farmer Franz Jagerstatter
• William Doino Jr., Franz Jagerstatter: Martyr and Model

Photo credit: God?s Politics.