![]() They revealed the deceptions that had supported the war and helped turn public opinion against it. Daniel Ellsberg, who read and was deeply moved by it, subsequently leaked the Pentagon Papers. It also had some slight impact on the Vietnam War. It offered an attractive and simple picture of radical Christianity and encouraged hard thinking about whether modern war could be morally justified. I was among the many readers who were moved and challenged by his book when it appeared in the 1960’s. Zahn, a Catholic sociologist, presented an attractive picture of Jägerstätter as a Christian pacifist. Then, in the early 1960s, Gordon Zahn learned of him and wrote his book, In Solitary Witness, and that started the whole thing." I hid his letters under my mattress for decades. I thought no one would ever know about him. When asked by the United States peace activist, John Dear, if she thought he would be remembered, his wife answered, "Never. He was jailed, tried and finally executed. But with this difference: we need no rifles or pistols for our battle, but instead, spiritual weapons-and the foremost among these is prayer". He rejected this advice, claiming that "just as those who believe in National Socialism tell themselves that their struggle is for survival, so must we, too, convince ourselves that our struggle is for the eternal Kingdom. They all counselled him that he should agree to fight, on the grounds that he had an obligation to support his family and that he should obey the legitimately constituted Government. He sought advice from local clergy and from his Bishop. ![]() His refusal was grounded in his Christian faith. He refused on the grounds that it would be sinful to fight. He was called up for military service in 1943. But even after the Annexation, Jägerstätter’s opposition to the regime led him to refuse benefits that he could have claimed. ![]() It was overwhelmingly approved by the majority of Austrian voters including those in his village. After the German army entered Austria and imposed a referendum to approve the annexation, Jägerstätter opposed it. He was appalled by what Hitler was doing in Germany. He was a constant man whose resistance has continued to reverberate.įranz Jägerstätter was an Austrian farmer who had reflected deeply on the consequences of his Catholic faith. The Nazis executed him for refusing to fight in the war. But perhaps a more significant decision was to recognise Franz Jägerstätter as a martyr. Those who aroused most interest were the Catholics killed by Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Last week Pope Benedict declared a number of people blessed. ![]()
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