Catholic clergy murdered at Dachau

Two thousand five hundred and seventy nine Catholic priests, seminarians, and religious were deported from across Europe to the Dachau concentration camp, according to a newly published French book. One thousand and thirty four died there (and of them eight hundred and sixty eight were Polish).

According to a new book in French by Guillaume Zeller’s La Baraque des prêtres, Dachau, 1938-1945 (The Barrack of the Priests, Dachau 1938-1945), the priests included German priests who spoke out against euthanasia, Polish priests who were considered part of Poland’s elite, French priests who resisted the Nazis, and a French bishop who aided the Jews.

“The Dachau camp remains the largest cemetery of Catholic priests in the world,” said Zeller in an interview with Le Figaro (see here to read the article). They “maintained their humanity” throughout their imprisonment as they celebrated the sacraments, aided the sick, and carried on theological training. There was even one documented case of an ordination in the camp. Mgr. Gabriel Piguet, bishop of Clermont-Ferrand, deported to Dachau for his support of those hiding Jews (and recognized as one of the Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem), ordained a dying German seminarian, Karl Leisner. Leisner was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996.

One hundred and forty one Orthodox and Protestant clergymen were also imprisoned at Dachau.