Karl Leisner facts for kids
Karl Leisner (born February 28, 1915, in Rees – died August 12, 1945, in Planegg, Germany) was a Catholic priest. He was held in the terrible Dachau concentration camp during World War II. He passed away from tuberculosis soon after being freed by the Allied soldiers. He is honored as a martyr (someone who dies for their beliefs). Pope John Paul II declared him "Blessed" on June 23, 1996.
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Karl Leisner's Early Life
Karl Leisner was born on February 28, 1915. He was the oldest of five children. When he was six, his family moved to Kleve, a city in Germany. His father worked there as a civil servant.
School and Youth Groups
Karl went to school and finished his high school studies in 1934. As a young boy, he became an altar boy at his church. His high school chaplain suggested he start a Catholic youth group. This group was called the Saint Werner Group.
These youth groups mixed prayer with fun outdoor activities. They enjoyed camping and cycling trips. Karl was a natural leader. He became a youth leader in the 1930s. This was when the Nazis started taking control of all youth groups in Germany. To avoid Nazi interference, Karl often took his group on trips to Holland or Belgium.
Becoming a Priest
In 1934, at age nineteen, Karl Leisner began studying to become a priest in Munich. Clemens August von Galen, who was the Bishop of Münster, named him the Diocesan Youth Leader.
Facing Nazi Opposition
Karl had to do six months of farm work, which was required by the government. Even though the Nazis were against it, he organized Sunday Mass for his fellow workers. The Gestapo, which was the Nazi secret police, raided his home. They took his diaries and other papers. These detailed writings show how he grew into a strong religious leader.
On March 25, 1939, Bishop Galen made Karl a deacon. A deacon is a step before becoming a priest.
Arrest and Imprisonment
Soon after becoming a deacon, Karl had a medical check-up. The doctor told him he had tuberculosis, a serious lung disease. In those days, the best treatment was good food and fresh air. He was sent to a special hospital called a sanitorium in St. Blasien, in the Black Forest. He started to get better there.
Criticizing Hitler
While recovering, another patient heard Karl say something critical about Adolf Hitler. The Gestapo arrested him on November 9, 1939. He was only twenty-five years old. He was first held in Freiburg and then in Mannheim.
Karl was first sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. On December 14, 1940, he was moved to the Dachau concentration camp. He became prisoner number 22,356. Since he was a deacon, he was put in the block where other priests were held.
Life in Dachau
Life in Dachau was extremely hard. Prisoners often had to work outside in snow or rain. Then they had to sleep in their wet clothes. The cold weather, very little food, and harsh treatment were dangerous. These conditions made Karl's tuberculosis worse.
Once, during an inspection, two Gestapo guards beat him until he passed out. He lay on the floor of his hut for hours. By March 1942, he was coughing up blood. He was forced to go to the infirmary, which was the camp's sick bay. This room was crowded with over 100 tuberculosis patients. In Dachau, there was no real effort to cure diseases. Very little care was given to the sick. During inspections, any patient thought to be too sick to recover was executed.
Secret Ordination and Death
On December 17, 1944, a special event happened. A fellow prisoner, French Bishop Gabriel Piguet, secretly made Karl a priest. This was a very risky act. The necessary papers and other items were secretly brought into the camp by a young woman named Josefa Mack. She was known as "Mädi," the "Angel of Dachau." She later became a nun.
Some imprisoned Protestant pastors helped organize this secret event. A Jewish violinist played music near the barracks to create a distraction. This helped keep the ordination a secret from the guards.
A Priest's Final Days
The newly ordained priest, Karl Leisner, was very ill. He was so weak that he had to wait over a week to celebrate his first Mass. When Dachau was freed on May 4, 1945, Karl was taken to a sanatorium in Planegg, near Munich. He died there a few months later, on August 12, 1945.
Karl Leisner's body was taken to Kleve and buried in a local cemetery. In 1966, his remains were moved to the crypt of the Cathedral of Xanten.
Beatification of Karl Leisner
In 1996, Pope John Paul II visited Berlin. He recognized Karl Leisner as a martyr for the Catholic faith. The Pope then declared him "Blessed." This is a step towards becoming a saint. Karl was beatified along with Bernhard Lichtenberg, another person who resisted the Nazis. Karl Leisner's feast day is celebrated on August 12.
The process for him to become a full saint (called canonization) is still ongoing.
Books and Media About Karl Leisner
Some books have been written in English about Karl Leisner. One is called The Victory of Father Karl by Otto Pies, published in 1957. This book was also made into a radio play. In 1984, a short documentary video about him was released by the Daughters of St. Paul.
Karl Leisner and Schoenstatt
Karl Leisner learned about the Schoenstatt movement when he was a teenager. He belonged to a Schoenstatt group until his final days. This group helped him grow in his faith.
His personal meetings with Our Lady at the Original Shrine in Schoenstatt were very important to him. They helped guide him on his path to becoming a priest. He lived by the idea, "Christ, my passion." This helped him decide to become a priest and live a life dedicated to God.
Even in the Dachau concentration camp, Karl Leisner started the first Schoenstatt group there. This group had to stop meeting in 1942 because of the harsh conditions. From 1943, Karl belonged to a group called "Victor in vinculis Mariae." This group helped him accept his difficult fate. He saw his suffering from tuberculosis and the hard life in the concentration camp as God's will. He offered his life as a martyr.
See also
In Spanish: Karl Leisner para niños
