Frederik J. Forell

Friedrich Joachim Forell also Frederick Forell (born September 15, 1888 in Glatz / Silesia , † April 2, 1968 in Iowa City ) was a German pastor. In exile in the USA he took on a job in the pastoral care of refugees.

Career

Friedrich Forell studied philosophy and theology in Breslau and Giessen . During the First World War he was a garrison preacher and pastor from 1915 to 1917. After his discharge from the army he became a pastor in Michelsdorf in the Giant Mountains and from 1926 in Breslau . He was a co-founder of the Christian Social People's Service . During a study visit to London he met Bishop Bell , with whom he remained on friendly terms.

Opponent of National Socialism

Friedrich Forell was a staunch opponent of National Socialism and was removed from office in 1933. Because of his political stance, he had to flee Germany.

emigration

Forell first emigrated to Austria via Czechoslovakia , where he became head of the Swedish Israel Mission (Vienna, Seegasse 16). There he was in close contact with other preachers within the framework of the Evangelical Alliance . From November 1933 to January 1938 he attended the meetings regularly, several times with his wife. At one such meeting he gave a lecture himself on October 1, 1934; the protocol that has been received gives a little insight into Forell's preaching: He spoke about the epistle to the Romans on the subject: “The victory of the spirit over the flesh”. He distinguished the task of the preacher (he should build) from that of the theologian (who is a scribe). Romans 7 Forell refers to the sinful man who, according to the Reformation view, “can very well be the new man”. Catholicism's view of faith and works does not allow for any certainty of salvation, while the enthusiasts see this subject from their future expectations. On April 6, 1936 Forell asked the community workers gathered in the alliance “to show interest in the emigrants among the non-Aryans”.

After Austria's annexation in 1938, Forell fled via Poland , the Baltic States , Sweden , Denmark and Great Britain to France , where he helped refugees; he worked there with Marc Boegner ( President of the French Protestant Church Federation ). After the outbreak of war, like many other German emigrants, he was interned. He managed to escape from the camp and obtain an entry visa for the USA. His escape route (1940) was that of many German emigrants: It led via Spain and Portugal and then by sea to the USA. There he took up a job in refugee pastoral care. Frederick J. Forell founded the Christian Fellowship for Newcomers and gathered a German-speaking Protestant congregation around him.

Work for a democratic post-war Germany

In 1944 Forell became a member of the organizing committee of the Council for a Democratic Germany (CDG). After the end of Nazi rule, he stayed in the United States, but returned to Germany for frequent visits. Because of this work, he received the title of Councilor of the Silesian Regional Church . A home of the Inner Mission in Görlitz was named after FJ Forell . He died in 1968.

Awards

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany , Great Cross of Merit (1963)

literature

Werner Röder, Herbert A. Strauss (eds.): Biographisches Handbuch der Deutschensprachigen Emigration nach 1933. = International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933–1945. Saur, Munich et al. 1980–1983;
- Volume 1: Politics, Economy, Public Life. 1980, ISBN 3-598-10087-6 ;
- Volume 2: The Arts, Sciences, and Literature. Part 1: A - K. 1983, ISBN 3-598-10089-2 ;
- Volume 2: The Arts, Sciences, and Literature. Part 2: L - Z. 1983, ISBN 3-598-10089-2 ;
- Vol. 3: Complete register. 1983, ISBN 3-598-10090-6 .
Eberhard Röhm , Jörg Thierfelder: A long way from Breslau to New York. The refugee pastor Friedrich Forell. In: Joachim Mehlhausen (Ed.): ... and beyond Barmen. Studies on contemporary church history. Festschrift for Carsten Nicolaisen (= work on contemporary church history. Series B: representations. Vol. 23). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1995, ISBN 3-525-55723-X , pp. 376-385.
Hartmut Ludwig, Eberhard Röhm: Baptized Evangelically - persecuted as "Jews" . Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart, 2014. pp. 102-103.

Web links

Christian Fellowship for Newcomers

Individual evidence

^ Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer (Ed.): Evangelical Alliance in Vienna from the First Republic to the Nazi era (1920–45). Edition of the meeting minutes and programs (= studies on the history of Christian movements of the Reformation tradition in Austria. Vol. 2), Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-938116-86-9 , p. 244 (register).
^ Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer (Ed.): Evangelical Alliance in Vienna from the First Republic to the Nazi era (1920–45). Edition of the meeting minutes and programs (= studies on the history of Christian movements of the Reformation tradition in Austria. Vol. 2), Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-938116-86-9 , p. 93 f; the following request regarding emigrants on p. 107.

personal data
SURNAME	Forell, Frederik J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Forell, Friedrich Joachim; Trout, Frederick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German pastor
DATE OF BIRTH	September 15, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH	Glatz / Silesia
DATE OF DEATH	April 2nd, 1968
Place of death	Iowa City

[1] Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer (Ed.): Evangelical Alliance in Vienna from the First Republic to the Nazi era (1920–45). Edition of the meeting minutes and programs (= studies on the history of Christian movements of the Reformation tradition in Austria. Vol. 2), Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-938116-86-9 , p. 244 (register).

[2] Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer (Ed.): Evangelical Alliance in Vienna from the First Republic to the Nazi era (1920–45). Edition of the meeting minutes and programs (= studies on the history of Christian movements of the Reformation tradition in Austria. Vol. 2), Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-938116-86-9 , p. 93 f; the following request regarding emigrants on p. 107.