Jakob Gapp
Jakob Gapp (born July 26, 1897 in Wattens , Tyrol ; † August 13, 1943 in Berlin-Plötzensee , German Empire ) was an Austrian priest in the resistance against National Socialism .
Life
Jakob Gapp came from a factory worker family. In Hall in Tirol he attended the Franciscan high school. He volunteered for the First World War with the Tyrolean Standschützen . In 1916 he was wounded; on November 6, 1918 he was taken prisoner of war , from which he returned on August 14, 1919.
On August 13, 1920 he entered the order of the Marianists . He made his novitiate at the Greisinghof , Tragwein. He was ordained a priest in 1930 . Afterwards he was teacher and prefect in the Marianum Freistadt , in Lanzenkirchen and in the Marieninstitut in Graz.
He firmly opposed National Socialism and made no secret of it. In March 1938 (shortly after the annexation of Austria ) he refused to perform the Hitler salute at the private secondary school of the Marieninstitut in Graz and did not wear a swastika badge. The order leadership felt such demonstrative actions as a danger for the religious community and the school, they tried to get along with the new rulers.
Gapp came to Breitenwang (Tyrol) as a cooperator and catechist in September 1938 . In Reutte he gave religious instruction in elementary and secondary schools. After he had propagated the commandment of charity there regardless of nationality and religion and, according to a later indictment, had identified himself as a "Jew friend and opponent of the Führer", he was given a general ban on teaching.
In December 1938, in a sermon in the parish church in Wattens, he sharply condemned the National Socialist worldview.
As a result, he had to flee Tyrol in January 1939. After a short stay in the founding house of his order in Bordeaux , he fled to Spain in May 1939. There, too, he preached against National Socialism and distributed brochures with English radio news about the events of the war.
German agents kidnapped Gapp on November 9, 1942, to Wehrmacht-occupied France and then on to Berlin.
On July 2, 1943, Jakob Gapp was sentenced to death in Berlin for “ treason ”. He was beheaded on August 13, 1943 in Berlin- Plötzensee .
Rehabilitation and appreciation
On June 26, 1987, the beatification process for Father Gapp was opened in Vienna. 37 witnesses were questioned. In 1987 the files were given to the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints .
In 1996 Gapp's death sentence was overturned in Berlin.
On November 24, 1996 he was beatified in Rome by Pope John Paul II (together with his compatriot and martyr Pastor Otto Neururer (executed 1940)). Gapps Memorial Day is the anniversary of his death, August 13th .
A memorial stone designed by Prof. Herbert Friedl was erected at Greisinghof, this stone is oriented towards Berlin. In the Greisinghof church, a mural by Teresa Stanciewicz shows the martyr. His professed ring and farewell letter are particularly valuable memorials. There is a sculpture by Jakob Gapp in the Marianum Fulda.
Since 1996 there has been the "Pater-Jakob-Gapp-Kreuzweg" between the parishes of Wattens and Wattenberg . Other memorial sites in Wattens are the bust and plaque in the Laurentiuskirche and the plaque on the house where he was born. The house of youth , which belongs to the parish Wattens, was renamed in Wattens in "Jakob-Gapp-Jugendhaus". A plaque commemorates the blessed in Hall in the Franciscan high school. The play Kreuz und Quer is dedicated to living, dying and dealing with the memory of Jakob Gapp in Wattens.
Every year on July 25th there is a memorial pilgrimage from Wattens to the Umlberg (municipality of Terfens ). . Jakob Gapp's farewell letter and professorship ring are considered to be the most valuable exhibits. The Pater Jakob Gapp Prize is a non-material (= not financially endowed) prize awarded by the Innsbruck Diocese . In 2011, on the occasion of 15 years of beatification, concerts and services were held in Wattens.
Relics of the Blessed are in the chapel of the House of Encounters in Innsbruck and, as of 2002, in the altar table of the new Telfs-Schlichtling parish church .
Gapp is one of the patrons of the Catholic labor movement in Tyrol.
Father Jakob Gapp Prize
Bishop Manfred Scheuer was Father Jakob Gapp Award launched to honor Gapp. The prize is awarded to companies that strive for sustainability and a good working atmosphere in accordance with the principles of Catholic social teaching and whose management is socially responsible.
See also
- Repeal of Nazi injustice judgments
- Law to Repeal National Socialist Injustice Judgments in the Administration of Criminal Justice
- Unpunished Nazi justice
Web links
- Literature by and about Jakob Gapp in the catalog of the German National Library
Footnotes
- ↑ www.pfarre-wattens.at
- ↑ The Liberation Monument and Memory. undated, pdf, page 74
- ↑ In the Anton company , the zone libre was occupied by Wehrmacht troops on November 11, 1942
- ↑ What is not? Upright martyr ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed March 15, 2008)
- ^ ORF Tirol: Adlerwerke receive the Jakob Gapp Prize
- ^ Parish Wattens: Events on the occasion of 15 years of beatification of Father Jakop Gapp
- ^ Commemoration of the blessed Nazi martyr P. Jakob Gapp on Kathpress from August 14, 2016, accessed on August 18, 2016.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gapp, Jakob |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian priest in the resistance against National Socialism |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 26, 1897 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wattens , Tyrol |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 13, 1943 |
| Place of death | Berlin |