Nikolaus Gross (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: Groß) (30 September 1898 – 23 January 1945) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
.
Gross first worked in crafts requiring skilled labor before becoming a
coal miner like his father while joining a range of trade union and political movements.
But he soon settled on becoming a
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
before he got married while
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
prompted him to become a
resistance
Resistance may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm:
** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title
** ''T ...
fighter in the time of the
Third Reich and for his anti-violent rhetoric and approach to opposing
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. He was also one of those implicated and arrested for the
assassination attempt on Hitler despite not being involved himself.
His cause for sainthood saw it acknowledged that Gross had died in 1945 "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith) which allowed for
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
to preside over the beatification for the murdered journalist on 7 October 2001 in
Saint Peter's Square
Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo. Bot ...
.
Life
Nikolaus Gross was born in
Niederwenigern
Niederwenigern is a small borough of the city of Hattingen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Ruhr, 4 km east of Kupferdreh (a borough of Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, se ...
on 30 September 1898 to a miner; he was
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
on 2 October and he attended the local Catholic school from 1905 until 1912.
[
Gross first worked in a plate rolling mill as a grinder (1912–15) and then as a coal miner like his father before him from 1915 until 1920. In June 1917 he joined the Christian Mineworkers' Trade Union and in 1918 joined a Christian political movement. On 6 June 1919 he joined the Saint Anthony's Miners' Association.][
He furthered his education in evening courses at the ]Volksverein für das katholische Deutschland
The People's Association for Catholic Germany (german: Volksverein für das katholische Deutschland) was a German political party founded on 24 October 1890 by Mönchengladbach manufacturer Franz Brandt and Catholic theologian and member of the Re ...
and in 1920 gave up his job as a miner and worked for the Christian Mineworkers' Trade Union ("Gewerkverein Christlicher Bergarbeiter") in Oberhausen
Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...
in a secretarial role from July 1920 until June 1921. From July 1921 until May 1922 he was an assistant editor at the union newspaper known as the "Bergknappen" in Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
.[ From June 1922 until October 1922 he was a trade union secretarial worker in Waldenburg in Lower Silesia and afterwards in ]Zwickau
Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
and then at (December 1924 to December 1926) Bottrop. In January 1927 he changed jobs to become the assistant editor at the Westdeutsche Arbeiterzeitung which was the organizational organ of the Katholische Arbeitnehmer-Bewegung ("Catholic Workers' Movement" or K.A.B.) before soon becoming the general editor in 1929.[ The Westdeutsche Arbeiterzeitung stood out as a paper that was critical of the ]Nazis
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 ...
. After the elections in March 1933 the paper was banned for three weeks. In the beginning of 1935 the paper bore the name Kettelerwacht and was banned once and for all on 19 November 1938 but he continued to publish an underground edition to expose the lies of propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
. Gross took over the leadership of the Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
K.A.B. for its secretarial worker had been called into the Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
. His activities were linked with travels which would be a help to him in his upcoming resistance activities. He also represented the K.A.B. at Catholic conferences.[
He had good friends from the K.A.B. as well as ]trade unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
and the Christian politicians and all would discuss alternatives to the Nazi regime in the so-called Cologne Circle which was meeting in the K.A.B.'s center called the Kettelerhaus in Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
no later than 1942. This group worked with those in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
about Carl Friedrich Goerdeler and took part in his personal plans for the time after Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
was out of office should that have happened.[
Gross later became engaged to Elisabeth Koch (11.03.1901-21.02.1971) and the two later married on 24 May 1923. The pair had seven children:][
* Nikolaus Heinrich (1925-2005)
* Bernhardine Elisabeth (1926-2015)
* Marianne (1927-2020)
* Liesel (1929-2001)
* Alexander (1931-2019)
* Bernhard (1934-2019)
* Helene (b. 1939)][
In 1940 he endured interrogations and house searches since he was being monitored at the time. On 12 August 1944 he was arrested sometime towards noon in connection with the failed plot to kill Hitler at the ]Wolf's Lair
The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II.
The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ostp ...
in East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
. He was first taken to Ravensbrück and then to Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
at the Tegel
Tegel () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the Berlin borough of Reinickendorf on the shore of Lake Tegel. The Tegel locality, the second largest in area (after Köpenick) of the 96 Berlin districts, also includes the neighbourhood of ''Saatwinkel'' ...
prison (from September 1944) where his wife visited him twice and reported the torture done to a hand and both his arms.[ From prison he sent letters to his wife including the farewell letter just moments before he died.][ On 15 January 1945 he was sentenced to death at the Volksgerichtshof ( Roland Freisler condemned him) and was hanged on 23 January 1945 at the Plötzensee prison in Berlin. His remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered at a sewage plant.][ He died soon after the ]Servant of God
"Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...
Eugen Bolz who was imprisoned in the same prison.
Beatification and other honors
The beatification process commenced on 19 January 1988 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued the official " nihil obstat" to the cause and titled Gross as a Servant of God; but it would be a decade until the actual diocesan phase of investigation opened in the Essen diocese on 12 November 1996 which later closed on 12 October 1997. The C.C.S. validated the diocesan phase in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
on 13 November 1998 and received the Positio
In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint.
Des ...
dossier in 2000 for investigation. The theologians approved the dossier's contents on 25 May 2001 as did the members of the C.C.S. on 3 July 2001. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
confirmed on 7 July 2001 that Gross had been killed "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith) and so beatified Gross in Saint Peter's Square
Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo. Bot ...
on 7 October 2001.
The current postulator
A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...
for the cause (since 1996) is Dr. Andrea Ambrosi.
There is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
dedicated to Nikolaus Gross in Niederwenigern
Niederwenigern is a small borough of the city of Hattingen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Ruhr, 4 km east of Kupferdreh (a borough of Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, se ...
. In 1948 a street in Cologne was named in his honor and streets were named after him in places such as Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
, Bocholt, Vreden, Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
History ...
, Dinslaken
Dinslaken is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known for its harness racing track, its now closed coal mine in Lohberg and its wealthy neighborhoods ''Hiesfeld'' and ''Eppinghoven''.
Geography
Dinslaken ...
, Paderborn
Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
, Bergkamen, Dülken
Dülken is a town located in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany. It has a population of about 20,000. It is a borough of the municipality of Viersen. It received its town charter in 1364 thus being the oldest part of the municipality of Vi ...
, Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.
Geography Municipal subdivisions
Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...
, Oberhausen
Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...
and Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
amongst others. Schools were named after him in Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
, Bottrop, Menden
Menden (, official name: ''Menden (Sauerland)''; Westphalian: ''Mennen'') is a city in the district Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of the Sauerland near the Ruhr river.
History
Menden's f ...
, Lebach, and Lünen amongst others.
A chapel was dedicated to him on 10 October 2004, and a memorial stone in Gelsenkirchen-Buer on 26 October 2003.
See also
* Chapel of Blessed Nikolaus Groß, Essen Minister
* List of members of the 20 July plot
On 20 July 1944, Adolf Hitler and his top military associates entered the briefing hut of the Wolf's Lair military headquarters, a series of concrete bunkers and shelters located deep in the forest of East Prussia, not far from the location of t ...
* Widerstand German resistance can refer to:
* Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government
* German resistance to Nazism
* Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...
References
External links
Hagiography Circle
Executed Today
Find a Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Nikolaus
1898 births
1945 deaths
20th-century German people
20th-century journalists
20th-century venerated Christians
Beatifications by Pope John Paul II
Catholic saints and blesseds of the Nazi era
Executed members of the 20 July plot
Executed people from North Rhine-Westphalia
Executed German Resistance members
German beatified people
German civilians killed in World War II
German people who died in Nazi concentration camps
People condemned by Nazi courts
People executed by hanging at Plötzensee Prison
People from Hattingen
People from the Province of Westphalia
People killed by Nazi Germany
Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany
Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps
Roman Catholics in the German Resistance
German trade unionists
Venerated Catholics