Josef Steinhübl (26 March 1902 – 18 April 1984) was a German politician and Catholic priest. Steinhübl was born on 26 March 1902 in Deutsch-Proben. He lost his father at the age of three. He studied at Roman Catholic secondary school in

Prievidza Prievidza (; hu, Privigye, german: Priwitz) is a city in the central-western Slovakia. With approximately 46,000 inhabitants it is the second biggest municipality in the Trenčín Region and 11th List of cities and towns in Slovakia, largest ...

1912–1918, and went on the study theology 1920–1921 at the University of Brno faculty in

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

and 1921–1925 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. He did his military service 1923–1924. Steinhübl was ordained in 1925. Until 1928 he served as pastor in

Kremnické Bane Kremnické Bane (german: Johannesberg; hu, Jánoshegy) is a village and municipality in Žiar nad Hronom District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovens ...

(

Hauerland Hauerland (also called ''Kremnitz-Deutschprobener Sprachinsel'') is the German name for a region presently located in central Slovakia once inhabited by Carpathian Germans. Arisen from medieval ''Ostsiedlung'' population movements, it belonged to ...

), then in Sohler-Lipcse (

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...

) 1928–1932, in Münnichwies (Hauerland) 1932–1936 and from 1936 to 1940 in Handlová. He joined the

Carpathian German Party The Carpathian German Party (german: Karpatendeutsche Partei, abbreviated KdP) was a political party in Czechoslovakia, active amongst the Carpathian German minority of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus'. It began as a bourgeois centrist party, but ...

(KdP) and served as head of the party (''Landschaftsleiter'') in Hauerland between 1934 and 1938. When the KdP moved towards

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

under

Franz Karmasin Franz Karmasin (2 September 1901 – 25 June 1970) was an ethnic German politician in Czechoslovakia, who helped found the Carpathian German Party. During World War II he was state secretary of German affairs in the Slovak Republic, and rose to the ...

, Steinhübl stood out as the sole KdP leader that publicly criticized the introduction of the

Führer principle ( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany cultivated the ("leader principl ...

(albeit in vague terms). Steinhübl and Karmasin were the two German Party deputies was elected to the Slovak Parliament (Landtag) on 18 December 1938 on the unity list of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party – Party of Slovak National Unity (HSĽS-SSNJ). He remained a member of the parliament of the Slovak Republic until 1945. On 1 October 1939 he was named inspector for German schools in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Banská Bystrica The Diocese of Banská Bystrica ( sk, Banskobystrická diecéza, la, Dioecesis Neosoliensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in central Slovakia. Its seat is in Banská Bystrica. On Tuesday 20 November 2012, according to biographical information in ...

. On 15 May 1942, parliament approved Decree 68/1942 regulating the deportation of Jews. Steinhübl was among those who left the assembly hall on a protest before voting. As the

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 ...

approached Handlová he escaped to the Bohemian town of Aš, which was controlled by U.S. troops. He was handed over to Czechoslovak authorities and held as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

1945–1948. Steinhübl was sentenced to death in a Bratislava people's tribunal on 18 March 1946. In 1948 his sentence was changed to life imprisonment. He was detained at a labour camp in Ústie nad Oravou 1948–1949 and then jailed at

Leopoldov Leopoldov (before 1948 ''Mestečko''; german: Leopold-Neustadtl; hu, Lipótvár) is a town in the Trnava Region of Slovakia, near the Váh river. It has a population of around 4,000 inhabitants. The city is the location of Leopoldov Prison, a hi ...

until July 1955. Upon release from prison, he was expelled to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In West Germany he worked as pastor in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

between 1956 and 1969. In 1956 he founded an organization called ('Aid Committee for Carpathian German Catholics'), in competition with another association with the same name founded by pastor Jakob Bauer in 1948. Steinhübl died on 18 April 1984 in Stuttgart.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinhuebl, Josef 1902 births 1984 deaths Sudeten German Party politicians German Party (Slovakia) politicians People from Prievidza District Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests