Josef Steinhübl (26 March 1902 – 18 April 1984) was a German politician and Catholic priest. Steinhübl was born on 26 March 1902 in Németpróna, also known as Deutsch-Proben, in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now Nitrianske Pravno, Slovakia). He lost his father at the age of three. He studied at Roman Catholic secondary school in

Prievidza Prievidza (; , ) is a city in the 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 city in Slovakia generally. Name The ...

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

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

and 1921–1925 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

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

Kremnické Bane Kremnické Bane (; ) is a village and municipality in Žiar nad Hronom District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. The village once belonged to the German language island of Hauerland but the majority of the German population w ...

(

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 t ...

), then in Sohler-Lipcse (

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Greater Fatra, Veľká Fatra, and t ...

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

Carpathian German Party The Carpathian German Party (, 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 after teaming up with the Sudete ...

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

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

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 ''Fuehrer'' when the umlaut is unavailable) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Hitler officially called ...

(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 (, ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in central Slovakia. Its seat is in Banská Bystrica. On Tuesday 20 November 2012, according to biographical information in a press release from the Holy See Pr ...

. 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, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

approached Handlová he escaped to the Bohemian town of

Aš Aš (; ) is a town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Aš consists of nine municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Aš (11, ...

, 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 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 war for a ...

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

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''; ; ) 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 high-security correctional institution. H ...

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

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. In West Germany he worked as pastor in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

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 Catholic priests convicted of crimes Sudeten German Party politicians German Party (Slovakia) politicians German prisoners sentenced to death People from Prievidza District Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests Prisoners sentenced to death by Czechoslovakia