{"id":253,"date":"2007-10-25T13:28:25","date_gmt":"2007-10-25T13:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/viamedia\/2007\/10\/blessed-franz.html"},"modified":"2007-10-25T13:28:25","modified_gmt":"2007-10-25T13:28:25","slug":"blessed-franz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2007\/10\/blessed-franz.html","title":{"rendered":"Blessed Franz"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Doino, in First Things:<\/a><\/p>\n

Tomorrow, on October 26, the Catholic hero Franz J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter<\/a><\/u> will be beatified in Linz, Austria.
\nExecuted in 1943 for refusing to serve in Hitler\u2019s army, J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter was once known only to his relatives and neighbors\u2014many of whom considered him mad. Born out of wedlock in 1907 in the tiny village of St. Radegund, his natural father was killed in the Great War. His mother eventually married a farmer named J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter, who adopted him. A Catholic from birth, Franz didn\u2019t always follow church teaching. Rumor has it that he lived something of a wild life\u2014possibly even fathering an illegitimate child\u2014before reclaiming his faith and marrying.
\nIn 1956, the American sociologist Gordon Zahn, then researching a book in Germany on another subject, came across J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter\u2019s story. Transfixed, he thought it worthy of a serious biography and visited Austria to write it. After recovering J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter\u2019s papers and interviewing surviving relatives and friends\u2014including two priests who served as his spiritual counselors\u2014Zahn published In Solitary Witness: The Life and Death of Franz J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter<\/a><\/em><\/u> (1964).
\nsnip<\/em>
\nThe book has since been translated into various languages, and it had a significant impact on the Church\u2019s support for conscientious objectors. As the biography reveals, Franz J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter was the unlikeliest of heroes. He was \u201ca relatively untutored man from a remote and isolated rural village,\u201d writes Zahn. Moreover, he was \u201ca married man with a wife and children for whom he was responsible and whose future welfare he was morally bound to consider.\u201d
\nAs the takeover of Austria proceeded, J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter knew he would be asked to collaborate at some point. In early 1943, it came: He was ordered to appear at the induction center at Enns, where he declared his intention not to serve. The next day, he was hauled off to a military prison at Linz, to await his fate. \u201cAll he knew when he arrived,\u201d writes Zahn, \u201cwas that he was subject to summary execution at any moment.\u201d
\nA parade of people\u2014relatives, friends, spiritual advisers, even his own bishop\u2014pleaded with J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter to change his mind. Some did not disagree with his anti-Nazi convictions or his moral stance; they simply argued he could not be held guilty in the eyes of God if he offered minimal cooperation under such duress, given the extreme alternative.
\nJ\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter, however, saw things differently. He believed Christians were called precisely to meet the highest possible standards\u2014\u201cbe thou perfect,\u201d said Our Lord\u2014even at the cost of one\u2019s life, if fundamental Christian principles were at stake. Serving Germany in a nonmilitary post would simply make it easier for someone else to commit war crimes. He could not participate in the Nazi death machine, even indirectly. He would not be swayed: \u201cSince the death of Christ, almost every century has seen the persecution of Christians; there have always been heroes and martyrs who gave their lives\u2014often in horrible ways\u2014for Christ and their faith. If we hope to reach our goal someday, then we, too, must become heroes of the faith.\u201d Indeed, he added, \u201cthe important thing is to fear God more than man.\u201d
\nAfter several months of imprisonment in Linz, J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter was taken to Berlin, where he stood military trial. According to witnesses, J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter was quite eloquent in his defense, but he was sentenced to death for sedition. On August 9, 1943, J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter was informed he would be beheaded that day. His last words as he was taken to the gallows were ones of peace, testifying to his faith: \u201cI am completely bound in inner union with the Lord.\u201d The prison chaplain who ministered to him that day later remarked, \u201cI can say with certainty that this simple man is the only saint I have met in my lifetime.\u201d
\nDuring his ordeal, many of J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter\u2019s neighbors considered his act unnecessary and foolish, a sentiment that remained long after his death. Zahn, who interviewed J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter\u2019s critics, examines all the explanations offered to question J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter\u2019s sacrifice\u2014that he was selfish, reckless, spiritually vainglorious, or even disturbed\u2014and makes a convincing case that none of them hold.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William Doino, in First Things: Tomorrow, on October 26, the Catholic hero Franz J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter will be beatified in Linz, Austria. Executed in 1943 for refusing to serve in Hitler\u2019s army, J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter was once known only to his relatives and neighbors\u2014many of whom considered him mad. Born out of wedlock in 1907 in the tiny village…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBlessed Franz - Via Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2007\/10\/blessed-franz.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blessed Franz - Via Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"William Doino, in First Things: Tomorrow, on October 26, the Catholic hero Franz J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter will be beatified in Linz, Austria. 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Executed in 1943 for refusing to serve in Hitler\u2019s army, J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter was once known only to his relatives and neighbors\u2014many of whom considered him mad. 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