Franz Jägerstätter

The work of Franz Jägerstätter is not that of an institution founder, but that of a solitary witness to the truth in the face of totalitarian barbarism. From the time of the Anschluss in March 1938 (the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany), Franz perceived the absolute incompatibility between Christianity and National Socialist ideology. During the plebiscite of April 10, 1938, he was the only inhabitant of his village to vote openly against the Anschluss. He also refused to receive financial aid from the Nazi regime and to perform the Hitler salute.

Franz was mobilized for the first time on June 17, 1940, and then a second time from October 1940 to April 1941. Thanks to the repeated interventions of his village mayor, who declared him "indispensable" for the agricultural work on his farm, he obtained deferments and was able to return to his family. However, these stays under the flag reinforced his inner conviction: he could never again swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler or participate in a war that he judged to be profoundly unjust and criminal. He was also deeply shocked by the Nazi euthanasia program (Action T4) and the persecution of priests.

In February 1943, Franz received a new summons to join the Wehrmacht in Enns. Despite the pleas of his loved ones, his friends, and even the cautious advice of his parish priest and the Bishop of Linz, Mgr Josef Fließer, who urged him to think of his family and to obey the civil authorities, Franz remained inflexible. His conscience, enlightened by the Gospel, forbade him from collaborating with a pagan and destructive regime.

On March 1, 1943, he reported to the induction center in Enns and immediately declared his refusal to bear arms and to swear an oath to Hitler. He was arrested the very next day, March 2, and incarcerated in the military detention prison in Linz. In May 1943, he was transferred to the Berlin-Tegel prison. During his detention, he offered to serve as a non-combatant military medic (which was refused). He found great comfort in prayer and in the example of Father Franz Reinisch, a Pallottine priest executed for also refusing the oath to Hitler.

On July 6, 1943, the Reich Military Court in Berlin sentenced him to death for "undermining the morale of the troops" (disorganization of the army). On August 9, 1943, at 4:00 PM, Franz Jägerstätter was beheaded by guillotine at the Brandenburg an der Havel prison. His final written words testify to a deep peace: "I am writing with my hands tied, but I prefer this condition to that of knowing my will is in chains."

After the Second World War, the sacrifice of Franz Jägerstätter was initially largely ignored or misunderstood in his own country, where many still considered him a traitor. It was thanks to the work of the American sociologist Gordon Zahn in 1964, and later the research of Erna Putz, that his heroic testimony was rediscovered. The diocesan process opened in 1997 in the Diocese of Linz. On June 1, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the publication of the decree officially recognizing his martyrdom (killed in hatred of the faith, in odium fidei). As this was a martyrdom recognized by the Church, no miracle was required for his beatification. Franz Jägerstätter was solemnly beatified on October 26, 2007 (the day of the Austrian National Holiday) in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Linz. The celebration was presided over by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Benedict XVI. In an exceptional event, his wife Franziska, then 94 years old, attended the ceremony alongside their three daughters, carrying her husband's relics.

The spirituality of Franz Jägerstätter rests on an absolute obedience to God rather than to men. For him, conscience is not a refuge of subjectivism, but the place of encounter with divine Truth. He refused any compromise with totalitarian falsehood, affirming that one cannot be both a Catholic and a National Socialist.

Franz Jägerstätter is today considered the patron saint of conscientious objectors. His example has inspired numerous Christian pacifist movements, notably Pax Christi. In 2019, the director Terrence Malick dedicated the acclaimed film A Hidden Life to his life, making his heroic testimony known to the entire world. His ashes rest today near the parish church of Sankt Radegund.