Josef Grahamer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Josef (Benno) Grahamer (born June 1, 1888 in Eisenhofen near Dachau , † October 4, 1950 in Pyongyang prison , North Korea) was a missionary benedictine and martyr of Tokwon .

Life

Four months after the birth, his father, Simon Grahamer, 35 years old, dies and leaves behind his wife (Kreszenz, née Bonn) with six children. In 1901 Benno left the local elementary school in Hof with an excellent qualification and began a three-year tailoring apprenticeship in Aichach on June 1, 1902 . He had to stop working as a tailor's assistant in Tandern in December 1905 for health reasons (abdominal ailments). After recovering from illness, he was able to take a job at a tailor's shop in Welshofen ( Erdweg ) in July 1906 , which he gave up just five months later, in November 1906.

His two sisters had joined the Dillinger Franciscan Sisters . When his brother Johann (Father Petrus Claver) made his temporary profession with the Missionary Benedictines of St. Ottilien , Benno made the decision to also enter the St. Ottilien Monastery. Ten days after his brother's profession of profession, the 18-year-old wrote his application for admission on October 31, 1906. On January 13, 1908, Benno was admitted to the novitiate and was given the religious name Josef. He made his temporary vows on October 16, 1910.

On January 7, 1911, he was sent from St. Ottilien to Korea . Brother Joseph made his perpetual vows on March 23, 1913 in a monastery with a craft school in Seoul . He also took on the duties of a nurse and his reputation as a healer quickly spread beyond the walls of the Tokwon Territorial Abbey . With the support of the state hospital in Seoul, Brother Josef obtained a Japanese imperial diploma in 1928, which entitles him to practice medicine. As a doctor he was available to everyone; it is said that 18,000 people a year sought his help.

With the expulsion of the Japanese occupiers by the Russian army in August 1945, communism also found its way into Korea. Brother Josef was one of the first to be captured on April 28, 1949 under a pretext and taken to the prison in the capital of Pyongyang. A five-month ordeal followed in Pyongyang Prison. When the UN troops were on the advance in October 1950 , the North Korean troops began to withdraw. In connection with this, eight priests and three brothers were shot dead by the Korean communists in the Pyongyang prison from October 3rd to October 11th, 1950 . Brother Joseph was also executed on October 4, 1950 , and thus became one of the martyrs of Tokwon .

In May 2007 the beatification process was initiated.

literature

  • Heimatgeschichte Eisenhofen eV (Hrsg.): EISENHOFEN - local history Eisenhofen, Hof, Petersberg . 500 pages, 2015.
  • Johannes Mahr: Abandoned Houses. Missionary Benedictines in East Asia. Volume 2: Tokwon and Yenki Abbeys , 2009, ISBN 3-83067-394-9 .
  • Marc Stegherr: Josef (Benno) Grahamer OSB (1888–1950). Farmer's son from Eisenhofen, mission benedictine, doctor and martyr in Korea. In: Amperland , Volume 47, 2011, pp. 272–276.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beatification of Brother Josef Grahamer OSB ( Memento from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 124 kB), accessed on October 5, 2013 - (Mission Benedictine)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Grahamer, Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grahamer, Benno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Mission Benedictine
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Eisenhofen near Dachau
DATE OF DEATH 4th October 1950
Place of death Pyongyang prison