Johann Baptist Huber

Name plaque in the memorial chapel of Passau Cathedral

Johann Baptist Huber (born April 2, 1892 in Alzgern ; † September 13, 1942 in Schwabing ) was a German Catholic clergyman and resistance fighter .

Life

education

He attended the humanistic Kurfürst-Maximilian-Gymnasium in Burghausen and after graduating from high school in 1912/13 began his studies at the philosophical-theological college in Passau .

First World War

When the First World War broke out , he volunteered for the Bavarian Army . Most recently he was lieutenant in the Reserve Infantry Regiment 17 and leader of an MG - company . For his achievements, Huber was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross , the Order of Military Merit IV Class and the Silver Wound Badge . After the war he joined a free formation and took part in firefights near Neuötting .

priest

In 1921 he was ordained a priest in Passau , and on July 21, 1921 he celebrated Primiz in Alzgern . From August 1921 he was a cooperator in Passau St. Paul , from January 1926 at the cathedral parish of St. Stephan . Huber got involved in the development of Catholic associations. As an active athlete, he particularly promoted the DJK Sports Association , in addition he looked after the soldiers of the Passau garrison, for whom he organized church services and retreats .

Parish priest

In autumn 1931 he became the parish priest of Landau an der Isar . His commitment to the DJK soon brought him into conflict with the German gymnastics association . In 1932, the militant clergyman complained to the government against teachers wearing party badges. He fought against the National Socialists in lectures, sermons and press articles .

Even after they came to power in 1933, he did not shy away from any conflict with the new rulers. Often it was about symbols such as the uniforms of the Catholic youth and the flag of the Kolping family .

From 1938 to 1942 he was chairman of the Passau priests' association. In this function he assisted priests who, among other things, had come into conflict with the Nazi regime because of pulpit abuse . With the beginning of the war he devoted himself particularly to looking after the soldiers. He sent field post letters to Landau soldiers containing the diocese gazette, the local newspaper and personal letters.

He was arrested for the first time in December 1940 for a funeral oration. On April 14, 1942, Huber was arrested again and taken to Landshut prison. The reason given was that despite the warning, he had continued collecting field post addresses and the organized mailing of religious pamphlets to members of the armed forces.

On June 5, 1942, he was transferred to the Dachau concentration camp and received the prisoner number 30,353. On September 8th he was taken to the hospital in Schwabing, where he died of emaciation a few days later. After the cremation in the Dachau crematorium, the urn was buried in the grave of relatives in Kastl , apparently to avoid possible unrest in his place of work Landau or his birthplace Alzgern.

Commemoration

The Catholic Church accepted pastor Johann Baptist Huber as a witness of faith in the German martyrology of the 20th century .

A street in Landau an der Isar is named after him, and the local school for individual learning support (Pfarrer-Huber-Schule) bears his name. Huber is noted in the memorial chapel of Passau Cathedral . There is also a "Johann-Huber-Straße" in the Haidenhof district of Passau.

literature

• Christian Kriegbaum: Pastor Johann Baptist Huber. in: Florian Trenner (ed.): Servants in the Lord's vineyard. Priestly personalities from twelve dioceses. Klerusblatt-Verlag, Munich 2008.
• Helmut Moll (publisher on behalf of the German Bishops' Conference), witnesses for Christ. Das deutsche Martyrologium des 20. Jahrhundert , Paderborn et al. 1999, 7th revised and updated edition 2019, ISBN 978-3-506-78012-6 , Volume I, pp. 609–611.
• Annemarie Wallner: Pastor Johann Baptist Huber. Fighters against the Nazi regime. Landau an der Isar 1987.

Web links

• Data and photo of the death picture