Joseph Joos (1878–1965) was a prominent German intellectual and politician. As a Member of Parliament in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, Joseph Joos grew to become one of the leading voices of the Christian Democratic Union in Germany. His convictions led him to become a political prisoner in the

Dachau Dachau () was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents which consisted of: communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. It is lo ...

concentration camp from 1941 to 1945. After World War II, Joseph Joos became a close advisor 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 ...

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...

Life

Joseph Joos was born on 13 November 1878 in

Wintzenheim Wintzenheim (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin ''département'' in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Wintzenheimois''. Geography Wintzenheim is a town of 7,853 inhabitants (2019)Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it i ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, a region long disputed between France and Germany. At this time, Alsace belonged to Germany, which led Joos to follow the German education cursus. Following high school in Mulhouse and an apprenticeship in carpentry, Joos became the editor of the "Ober-Elsaessischen Landeszeitung", an Alsatian newspaper. As a committed Catholic, Joos got involved with the " Volksverein für das katholische Deutschland" (People Association for a Catholic Germany) in

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 Möncheng ...

. He eventually became the editor of the Westdeutschen Arbeiterzeitung, which relayed the views of the Christian Democratic party. In 1905, he became the editor in chief. During World War I, Joos was a strong advocate of democracy in his editorials. As France took over Alsace following the 1919

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

, Joos decided to remain involved in German politics and became an outspoken opponent of the then nascent

National Socialist 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 ...

movement. When the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

came to power, Joos' political party came under a lot of pressure and his publications were often censored. In 1938, the Nazi authorities stripped Joos of his German citizenship as Alsatians were not considered reliable citizens in the imminence of a war. In 1940, Joos moved to

Köln Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

(Cologne) but was denounced and arrested for helping the

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

in Alsace. In 1940, he was transferred to prisoner camp in Weissenburg in Bayern, in July 1941 to the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

jail in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and subsequently to the concentration camp of

. In April 1945, he was transferred with about 140 other political prisoners to Niederdorf (South Tyrol). He was freed in May 1945. As Alsace was now part of France and since Joos had lost his German citizenship, he was sent back to France. In 1949, Joos moved back to Germany but refused to take the German citizenship. Until 1960, he lived in

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. Histor ...

. Joos became involved again with the German Christian Democrats. Thanks to his personal background and his credibility with the new German government as well as with the French Resistance, Joos became a prominent advocate for a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. He rejoined the Christian Democratic Union and became a special advisor on European Affairs to the German Chancellor

. In 1960, he moved to

St Gallen St. Gallen or traditionally St Gall, in German language, German; it, San Gallo; rm, Son Gagl) is a Switzerland, Swiss List of cities in Switzerland, city and the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of St. Gallen, St ...

in Switzerland for health reasons. He died in St Gallen on 11 March 1965. Thanks to his lifelong piety and activism, on 8 December 1954, Joseph Joos was ordered Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem by Cardinal Nicola Canali, President of the Pontifical Commission for

Vatican City State Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

and Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Public Office

Joseph Joos attended the

Weimar National Assembly The Weimar National Assembly (German: ), officially the German National Constitutional Assembly (), was the popularly elected constitutional convention and de facto parliament of Germany from 6 February 1919 to 21 May 1920. As part of its ...

in January 1919 in his capacity of representative of the Christian Democrats of the Rhein region. He then became a full-time Christian Democrat deputy at the Weimar Reichsteig until November 1933. * 1920-1933: Member of the Zentrum (Center Party) coalition in Parliament * 1922: President of the Deutschen Katolischen Katholikentags in Munich and Chairperson of the Windthorstbundes, a youth organization of the Center Party * 1926-1932: Member of the

Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold The (, ''"Black, Red, ndGold Banner of the Reich"'') was an organization in Germany during the Weimar Republic, formed by members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the German Centre Party, and the (liberal) German Democratic P ...

organization * 1927: Chairman of the German Catholic Worker Movement * 1928: Chairman of the international Catholic Worker Movement * 1928: Member of the Volksverein für das katholische Deutschland (People Association for a Catholic Germany) * 1928-1933: Chairman of the Zentrum * 1933: Resignation from the management board of the

Central Committee of German Catholics The Central Committee of German Catholics (german: Zentralkomitee der deutschen Katholiken, ZdK) is a lay body comprising representatives of various Catholic organisations in Germany. They organise the Catholic Days in Germany. The organisatio ...

(ZdK)

Books on Joseph Joos

* Joachim Giers: "Joos, Josef". In: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (NDB). Band 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, , S. 595 f. (Digitalisat). * Bernd Haunfelder: ''Reichstagsabgeordnete der Deutschen Zentrumspartei 1871–1933. Biographisches Handbuch und historische Photographien. Photodokumente zur Geschichte des Parlamentarismus und der politischen Parteien'', Band 4. Düsseldorf 1999, S. 1325 f. * Oswald Wachtling: ''Joseph Joos. Journalist, Arbeiterführer, Zentrumspolitiker. Politische Biographie 1878–1933''. (Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Zeitgeschichte, Reihe B: Forschungen, Band 16) Mainz 1974

External links

Publications from and on Joseph Joos in the German National Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joos, Joseph 1878 births 1965 deaths People from Haut-Rhin People from Alsace-Lorraine German Roman Catholics Centre Party (Germany) politicians Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold members Catholic Workers Dachau concentration camp survivors Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from St. Gallen (city)