Josef Lenzel (21 April 1890 – 3 July 1942) was a German Roman Catholic priest active in resistance movement against the

National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

, who died in 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 ...

where he had been sent as a result of his work with Polish forced labourers.

Biography

Josef Lenzel death certificate Dachau Arolsen Archives DocID10174564

Lenzel was born in 1891 in Breslau (now

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

) in

Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

. In 1911, he started his theological studies at the University in Breslau, and was ordained as a priest on in Breslau Cathedral. He became a vicar in Wołów immediately after this, and in 1916 became a vicar in Berlin-Pankow. In 1929, he became a rector, then a titulary provost of St Mary Magdalene’s parish in Berlin-Niederschönhausen. During the Second World War, he helped Polish obligatory workers in his parish; his help was viewed unkindly by local Nazi authorities. In , during his preparations for a mass for maltreated Poles, he was arrested by the Gestapo and then sent to the Dachau concentration camp. He died there on from ill-treatment and exhaustion Archives of Archidiocese of Berlin: ''Biographical note for Josef Lenzel''
(German)

Memorials

* Commemorative plaque in a crypt of St. Hedwig's Cathedral, * Commemorative plaque on a symbolic tomb in memorial of Josef Lenzel, in front of St Mary Magdalene’s parish in Berlin-Niederschönhausen * Street named ''Pfarrer-Lenzel-Straße'' in Berlin-Pankow. File:Gedenktafel Platanenstr 22 (Niedschh) Joseph Lenzel.jpg, Commemorative plaque in front of St Mary Magdalene’s parish on 22 Platanenstraße street in Berlinie-Niederschönhausen, in memorial of priest Josef Lenzel, that gave his life for Poles – brothers in faith File:Gedenktafel Hinter der Katholischen Kirche 3 (Mitte) Christen im Widerstand2.jpg, A part of a commemorative plaque in memorial of Catholics of Archdiocese of Berlin murdered during the war, in a crypt of St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin

Bibliography

* Helmut Moll, Ursula Pruss, ''Pfarrer Josef Lenzel. In: Zeugen für Christus. Das deutsche Martyrologium des 20. Jahrhunderts. von im Auftrag der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz. site 101–104. Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 1999 * Heinz Kühn, ''Blutzeugen des Bistums Berlin. Klausener, Lichtenberg, Lampert, Lorenz, Simoleit, Mandrella, Hirsch, Wachsmann, Metzger, Schäfer, Willimsky, Lenzel, Froehlich.'' Morus-Verlag, Berlin 1952

External links

Website of Diocese of Münster: Josef Lenzel’s biography
(German)
Website of Archidiocese of Berlin: Reminiscence of priest Josef Lenzel as a victim of nazism
(German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenzel, Josef 1890 births 1942 deaths Roman Catholics in the German Resistance German civilians killed in World War II Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps German people who died in Dachau concentration camp Martyred Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 20th-century venerated Christians People from the Province of Silesia Clergy from Wrocław Clergy from Berlin 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests