Augustin Rösch (11 May 1893 – 7 November 1961) was a German

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

, Provincial, and significant figure in

Catholic resistance to Nazism Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany was a component of German resistance to Nazism and of Resistance during World War II. The role of the Catholic Church during the Nazi years remains a matter of much contention. From the outset of Nazi rule in ...

. Active in the

Kreisau Circle The Kreisau Circle (German: ''Kreisauer Kreis'', ) (1940–1944) was a group of about twenty-five German dissidents in Nazi Germany led by Helmuth James von Moltke, who met at his estate in the rural town of Kreisau, Silesia. The circle was com ...

German Resistance group, he was arrested in connection with the 1944

July Plot On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. The ...

to overthrow Hitler, but survived his imprisonment.

Life

Rösch was born in

Schwandorf Schwandorf is a town on the river Naab in the Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany, which is the seat of the Schwandorf district. Sights * Catholic parish church of St. Jakob * Kreuzberg Church: Catholic parish, monastic and pilgrimage church of ...

and entered the Jesuit order at the age of 18. During World War I, he was drafted into the army and fought at

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

. He was ordained as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1925. Together with

Otto Faller Rev.Otto Faller SJ (18 February 1889 – 16 May 1971) was Provincial Superior of the Jesuit order in Germany, educator, teacher and Dean at Stella Matutina in Feldkirch, Austria and Kolleg St. Blasien in Germany, professor of patristic studies a ...

, he headed the

Stella Matutina (Jesuit School) Stella Matutina in Feldkirch, Austria, was a Jesuit school that operated in 1651–1773, 1856–1938, and 1946–1979. History, scholarship, international flair The “Kolleg” began in 1649 but opened formally in 1651. In 1773, when Pope Clemen ...

in various leadership positions from 1925 until 1935. In 1935 he was named Jesuit Provincial, a post which he occupied to the end of "the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

" in 1945. He appointed

Alfred Delp Alfred Delp (, 15 September 1907 – 2 February 1945) was a German Jesuit priest and philosopher of the German Resistance. A member of the inner Kreisau Circle resistance group, he is considered a significant figure in Catholic resistan ...

to be his representative at the resistance meetings. After the failed coup against Hitler, he went into hiding in a farm. He was found, arrested, tortured and brought to the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

. Sent to interrogation to Berlin, he was freed in light of the advancing

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

of the Soviet Union. After the war until his death, he was heading the Bavarian

Caritas Internationalis Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service organizations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Collectively and individually, their missions are to work to build a bett ...

from 1947 to 1961.Bleistein Chapters 4-5

Notes

Sources

* Augustin Rösch, Roman Bleistein (Hg.): ''Kampf gegen den Nationalsozialismus,'' 1985, * Hans Niedermayer: ''Augustin Rösch: ein Mann des Widerstands im Dritten Reich. Jahresbericht Dom-Gymnasium'', Freising, 1994/95, S. 8-24 * Roman Bleistein: Augustin Rösch. ''Leben im Widerstand. Biographie und Dokumente.'' Frankfurt a. Main 1998, in: Theologische Literaturzeitung, Ausgabe 125, 2000 S. 182-184, {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosch, Augustin 1893 births 1961 deaths 20th-century German Jesuits People condemned by Nazi courts People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Roman Catholics in the German Resistance German resistance members

Life

See also

Notes

Sources