Lojze Grozde
| Lojze Grozde | |
|---|---|
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| martyr | |
| birth | May 27, 1923 , Zgornje Vodale near Mokronog, Slovenia |
| death | January 1, 1943 in Mirna |
| beatification | June 13, 2010 by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone |
| canonization | |
| martyr | March 27, 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. |
| Burial place | Šentrupert |
| Remembrance day | May 27th |
| Attributes | Book, palm branch, snowdrop |
| Patronage | Poet, student; Slovenia |
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"The Eucharist is the sun of my life." |
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Lojze Grozde , actually Alojzij Grozde , (born May 27, 1923 in Zgornje Vodale ; † January 1, 1943 in Mirna ) was a Slovenian-speaking poet . He is venerated as a blessed in the Catholic Church because of his martyrdom .
Life
Lojze Grozde was born in Zgornje Vodale (Obervodalle) near Mokronog in the parish of Tržišče in the south-eastern Slovenian region of Dolenjska as the illegitimate child of Marija Grozde and Franc Udovč. Marija had to work hard as a day laborer to earn a living for herself and her son. When Lojze was four years old, his mother and Franc Kovač married. Since his stepfather didn't like him, he first had to live with relatives, Lojze was not allowed to go to the wedding or to his mother's new home. He had to stay with the relatives, even though he was very drawn to his mother. When Lojze later became an excellent student, his stepfather was proud of him too. After the four classes of elementary school, he went to Ljubljana for further training . With the help of his aunt Ivanka and an unnamed benefactor, Lojze was able to continue his studies. He lived in the Marijanišče youth home and attended the ancient language grammar school.
Grozde became a member of the Catholic Action and later one of its leaders; he was a member of the Marian Congregation . After the outbreak of World War II and the occupation of Slovenia in 1941, the situation for Catholics became difficult. Because of the war and the Marxist revolution, the situation in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia worsened. For Lojze it was the time to make his own career decision. He stayed out of the politics of the day, he looked for his way in a deepened prayer life, which he combined with the commitment to his fellow men.
martyrdom
Happenings
Grozde had not spent the holidays before the last year of high school at home; at that time there was more and more violence there, and visits were no easy matter. But for New Year's 1943 , despite well-intentioned warnings, he decided to visit home and asked for a travel permit. On January 1, 1943, a " Sacred Heart Friday ", he attended mass in the Cistercian Abbey of Stična and then took the train from Ivančna Gorica to Trebnje . Since the railway line was interrupted and a further journey was not possible, he decided to walk to Mirna (Neuring). On the way he could get on a car. At the entrance to Mirna the partisan guard fetched him from the car and began to interrogate him. With him he had a Latin missal , the book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas von Kempen and a little book about the Blessed Mother of Fátima . The guard took him to the nearby inn and continued the interrogation there. How critical the situation was can be seen from the fact that theology student Janez Hočevar had been shot three hours earlier in Mirna. He wanted to visit his relatives in nearby Šentrupert na Dolenjskem (St. Rupert) for the holidays . In Grozde the partisans saw only one other collaborator and one informing the occupying power.
The population soon spoke of a brutal New Year celebration by the partisan brigade that Mirna had occupied. Today some claim that there was no torture whatsoever , but the first brief biography already tells of the torture of Lojze Grozde in Mirna. Anton Strle , Lojze Grozde's most important biographer, wrote something similar . He reports that the body had not been buried at all and that immediately after it was found, a commission found evidence of severe use of force.
“Grozde's corpse was perfectly preserved and without the slightest trace of putrefaction, although it had been lying in the open for seven weeks and the temperature was well above zero ... There were clear signs of torture on the feet: the toes were all cut; on his hands were the imprints of the rope with which he was tied when he was tortured. It was clearly visible that the entire right ear with the right cheek was cut off over the lip to the lower jaw. The ear tore all of the skin off her cheek. The lower half of the left ear was also cut off. The right eye was cut out; but the left eye was pierced by a sharp object so that it had run out. There was a gap about eight centimeters long and six centimeters deep on the head. That was probably the fatal blow with a blunt object. "
So it reports the protocol signed by eight eyewitnesses. Another report states that there was another large wound to the left below the jaw. In this way, Grozde is reported to have had his tongue cut off at the root. There were traces of straps cut on one leg under the knee, and the skin on the foot and sole had been partially removed.
Finding and burial
On February 23, 1943 it became apparent what had happened to Grozde, a high school student. Schoolchildren collected snowdrops in the forest that day and discovered his body. It showed signs of cruel torture, but the body was not decomposed. He was taken to the neighboring Šentrupert, where a commission prepared the written protocol. Grozdes body was then at the cemetery buried Šentrupert because a transfer to his home parish Tržišče was the prevailing conditions because not possible.
Reactions to what happened
Relatives and classmates, acquaintances and friends
The news of the innocent student's torture and murder shocked people and deeply affected relatives and classmates, acquaintances and friends.
Pastor Gregor Mali
Pastor Gregor Mali gives a first brief biography of Lojze Grozde on one page in the booklet “Spiritual Calendar” from December 1, 1943. He also writes of brutal torture:
“During the Christmas holidays of 1942 Lojze went to Dolenjska to see his mother and relatives. But he didn't get home. The communists seized him in Mirna, tortured him severely for two hours, and then killed him. The reports say that he endured the torture resignedly. "
Political Commissioner Dušan Majcen-Nedeljko
In those days, the Mirna valley was ruled by the " Tone Tomšič First Beating Brigade ", whose staff were preparing for the New Year celebrations. Her political commissioner Dušan Majcen-Nedeljko wrote a good two weeks after Lojze Grozde's murder:
“From the position on Jan. 19, 1943, to the Central Committee of the KPS: The death sentence was a little hasty and carried out for preventive reasons. Although it was proven that he was a member of Catholic Action, there was no concrete evidence that he was delivering news. The staff later found itself forced to face the need for a death sentence in front of the residents, especially in Št. Rupert, to justify it in a special statement. I have to admit self-critically that I did not take on this case enough and did not prevent the conviction, which I could easily have done if I had participated in the brigade court ... "
Partisan General Lado Kocijan
Mladina.si - a Slovenian electronic weekly newspaper - writes that the former partisan general Lado Kocijan was also interested in the fate of Lojze Grozde around 1995. He claimed,
"... that Grozde delivered important news with an unaddressed letter."
In the eyes of the partisan Veek Court , Lojze was a courier for the Belogardists and was therefore sentenced to death.
“It is an invention that they tortured him in such a way that they pulled the skin off the soles of his feet and cut off his tongue and toes. However, the partisans did not bury the body deep enough, which is why wild animals inflicted minor wounds through browsing. There was no torture ... "
claimed the former fighter of the " Matija Gubec " brigade .
Narte Velikonja
The poet and writer Narte Velikonja mentions Lojze Grozde in his allegorical article "Idolatry of Crime", in which he condemns the violent acts of the partisans. The motto "! God's children, home sons, nobody's servants" of Fran Saleški Finžgar he points with regard to the war period as follows:
"Marjan, the seasoned fellow, was there when Balantič burned to the ground, Marjan is still there today and declaims: " Freedom for the people! " So how about this golden freedom for the people? If freedom for the people means that criminals are free, that Daki can murder, that Kidrič himself can shoot his enemies with impunity, if freedom consists in the fact that Slovenian villages burn as if they were festive bonfires, if that is freedom, that the poet Balantič was burned if that was freedom, that she could go with impunity, e.g. B. have murdered Mayor Brulc, one of the best mayors of Slovenia, if that is freedom, that they have murdered one of the best economists, namely Burger, if that is freedom, that village barbarians and work- shy have murdered their great benefactor, Pastor Komljanec , if that is the freedom that they were allowed to kill fellows like Emmer, Zupec, Kikelj, if that is the freedom that they were allowed to tear apart the Octavan Grozde, Dr. Kejžar were allowed to kill because they found a rosary with him, if that is the freedom that they could and could throw such a pastor into the abyss, as Geoheli was, then I don't like such freedom. I solemnly proclaim: I don't like such freedom! I have nothing in common with criminals and I don't like that kind of freedom because I don't like crime. "
Taras Kermauner
The literary historian and dramaturge Taras Kermauner wrote about Grozde in the foreword to the biography of Anton Strle (who is also a candidate for beatification):
“Grozde combines Baraga's zeal and apostolate, the asceticism and suffering of Gnidovec , Slomšek's talent for organization and Slovene self-confidence ... It symbolizes the entire martyrdom that Catholic Christians among Indians in North America, Slovenes during the Second World War and afterwards because of their religious affiliation have suffered ... One would have to give one's personality back to the general Slovene consciousness beyond the heroes who have been praised for so many years and who are the only ones who have been put in the front row as exemplary. Today we need a person like Grozde as an example: a martyr, a saint. Not someone who is aggressively involved in war and who thinks that he will make God stand out with a weapon and with foreign blood ... I am not afraid to write that Grozde is one of the greatest young Slovenes; that it is precisely his attitude that points the way and is most valuable in terms of content. "
beatification
The recognition of Grozde's martyrdom
On the 50th anniversary of Grozde's death, the Archdiocese of Ljubljana opened the ecclesiastical process to recognize his martyrdom and thus to his beatification and canonization . The first postulator for the beatification was the inspector of the Salesians , Stanislav Hočevar , Archbishop and Metropolitan of Belgrade . Pope John Paul II mentioned Grozde twice on his first visit to Slovenia (May 16-19, 1996). Among other things, he said: "The servant of God Lojze Grozde is only one of the innocent innocent victims of communism who hold up the palm of martyrdom as an indelible remembrance and concern." Pope Benedict XVI. but said that the saints do not belong to the past but represent the present and future of the church and society. They have fully realized in truth the love that is of the highest value in the Christian life. Their exemplary shapes are like prisms that reflect the unique light that Christ is in different hues.
Roma locuta - causa finita
"Rome has decided, the matter is closed", was the long-awaited message that was communicated on May 19, 2010 about the papal nunciature in Slovenia to the bishop of Novo mesto Andrej Glavan and the postulator for the beatification of Lojze Grozde, Igor Luzar .
On March 27, 2010 the news came from Rome that the Pope had signed the decree concerning the martyrdom of Lojze Grozde.
Public beatification
With this decree the permission for the solemn beatification was connected, which - as suggested by Novo mesto - took place on June 13, 2010 within the framework of the Slovenian Eucharistic Congress in Celje . The martyr Lojze Grozde was officially beatified as the second Slovene. The beatification was carried out on behalf of the Pope, State Secretary Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone during the Eucharistic celebration. Around 40,000 believers were present in the Celje stadium.
The Slovenian poet
In 1991 a kind of tetralogy about Grozde appeared with the title Slovenski mučenec Lojze Grozde (The Slovenian Martyr Lojze Grozde). It begins with a biography that Anton Strle wrote based on the statements of several witnesses and from his own experience and memory. As prefect at the Marianum, Strle was Grozde's tutor and probably knew him best. The book is believed to be a reprint of the biography from 1944. After publication, Strle was imprisoned for five years and then denied civil rights for three more years. The later professor of dogmatics at the theological faculty in Ljubljana writes:
“How painful for Lojze were the tribulations that gradually fell upon our people [during the (civil) war]. [Nevertheless] there was no room for discouragement in Lojze's heart. "
Grozde's poem “The painful sonnet” ( Bolestni sonet ) from 1942 also attests to this .
| The painful sonnet (excerpt) |
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Slovenia, Slovenia, you my wound! |
(Slovenian original version below)
Janez Pogačar, who knew Lojze personally because his aunt Ivanka was on his job, has written down a few memories. In it he affirmed that Lojze was not ready to pick up a gun and had to accept many bitter remarks.
“Dark clouds came up. Innocent people were murdered, mainly in the Ljubljana area and in the Dolenjska area. Nineteen-year-old Lojze asked himself whether he was not obliged in conscience to intervene with his weapon if necessary. I remember that when my sister asked about this, he gave the resolute answer: "I'm not for it." The sister continued: "Then what are you for?" But Lojze was silent. "
The historian Berta Golob put together a selection of Grozde's poems, depending on the subject: occasional poems, religious poems and love poems. About Grozde as a poet, Kermauner says:
“Grozde also reveals himself in the poems as Strle describes him in the book Mladec Kristusa Kralja (A Disciple of Christ the King). Grozdes endeavor is not: to be a poet; that's the case with Balantič. Grozde wants to be a saint. "
But the two poets are strikingly similar in that they have a vague premonition that death is not far away. As an example here Grozde's poem "Sternschnuppe" ( Utrinek ) from the fourth year of high school:
| Shooting star (part) |
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Below a tree, |
A vague idea that he would have to die young, and the manner in which he died is expressed early on in his poems. If we can believe the report that Strle gives about the finding of the corpse of Grozde, this suspicion was well founded.
Film and TV
- Moj glas zliva se v prošnjo (My voice flows together in prayer) Documentary broadcast by RTV Slovenia-1. The Archbishop and Metropolitan of Belgrade Stanislav Hočevar , the Jesuit Miha Žužek and othersalso speak.
Picture gallery
The village of Mirna
Šentrupert with the Gothic church
literature
- Anton Strle: Un martyr des temps modern. Aloïs Grozdé, 1923-1943. Paris 1957.
- Miroslav Slana: Slovenski sij svetosti. Mladi mučenec Lojze Grozde. Maribor 2001, ISBN 961-6227-59-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Anton Strle, Slovenski mučenec Lojze Grozde, Ljubljana 1991, 97th
- ↑ Tone Ciglar: Mučenec Lojze Grozde. Svetilnik mladim, neomajno na strani dobrega. In: Salezijanski vestnik. No. 3, volume 83, p. 22, Salve Verlag, Ljubljana-Rakovnik 2010.
- ↑ In that year several lay Catholics and also priests lost their lives under tragic circumstances. A first account of this can be found in a booklet by the Salesians from 1943. Gregor Mali: Duhovni koledarček 1944. Ljubljana, Knjižice No. 239/240, December 1, 1943. For 14 of those who died in 1942, the Beatification process initiated.
- ↑ The former partisan general Lado Kocijan mentions that these were members of the Tomšič brigade. In: Mladina.si: (Ne) preverjeni mučenik. Tednik, No. 13, May 22, 2010.
- ↑ Anton Strle: Slovenski mučenec Lojze Grozde. Ljubljana 1991, pp. 121-129. The first edition of the book appeared under the title Mladec Kristusa Kralja. Ljubljana 1944.
- ↑ V božičnih praznikih 1942 se depending napotil na Dolenjsko k materi in sorodnikom. Toda domov ni prišel. Na Mirni so ga zgrabili komunisti, ga 2 uri strašno mučili, nato pa ga ubili. Poročila pravijo, da je muke vdano prenašal.
- ↑ Gregory Mali: Duhovni koledarček 1944. Knjižice No. 239/240, December 1, 1943 p. 13.
- ↑ Milanka Dragarjeva: Zvest Križanemu. Ljubljana 2010, p. 349. A document about Grozde found in the Arhiv Slovenije is published there, a letter from Political Commissioner Dušan Majcen-Nedeljko from the Tomšič brigade. From this letter it can be concluded that those responsible for the CK KPS were not so indifferent to how this event would affect people. It appears, however, that they did not go out of their way to punish the guilty.
- ↑ (Ne) preverjeni mučenik - (un) tested martyr. In: Mladina.si, No. 13, May 22, 2010, online (in Slovak), accessed on May 13, 2011.
- ↑ Narte Velikonja (born June 8, 1891 Predmeja, † 25 June 1945 in Ljubljana, shot by partisans)
- ↑ Narte Velikonja: Malikovanje zločina.
- ↑ Bogu otroci, domovini sinovi, nikomur hlapci!
- ↑ Narte Velikonja: Malikovanje zločina.
- ↑ Slovenski mučenec Lojze Grozde, p. 135. The preface by Taras Kermauner has the significant subtitle: "Lojze Grozde - a role model for today's Slovenes" (Lojze Grozde - vzornik tudi današnjim Slovencem).
- ^ Three Slovenian bishops and candidates for holiness: Baraga (1797-1868) was a missionary among Indians in North America; Gnidovec (1873-1939) was a missionary in the Yugoslav diaspora (Macedonia, Kosovo); Slomšek (1800-1862) brought the episcopal see from St.Andrä in Carinthia to Maribor in Lower Styria in 1859, and was also a poet and writer.
- ^ Anton Pust, Zdravko Reven, Božidar Slapšak: Palm mučeništva. Ubiti in pomorjeni slovenski duhovniki, redovniki in bogoslovci in nekateri verni laiki. Celje 1995, pp. 367-368.
- ↑ Igor Luzar: Celjski sad Grozdetovega zrna. In: Družina , Slovenski katoliški tednik, No. 22, Ljubljana May 30, 2010.
- ↑ On this day Pope Benedict XVI received the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Archbishop Angelo Amato , and confirmed the publication of the ordinance on the Martyrdom of Grozde.
- ↑ The first Slovenian blessed was Bishop Anton Martin Slomšek of Maribor . The beatification was done by Pope John Paul II in Maribor in 1999.
- ↑ https://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20100614_OTS0203/celje-40000-bei-seligsprechung-von-maertyrer-lojze-grozde
- ^ "Professor Anton Strle was" rewarded "for his book about Lojze Grozde with five years imprisonment (from 1947 to 1952) and after his release for another three years with the revocation of civil rights." Anton Štrukelj: Strle in Grozde. (Strle and Grozde), Družina 23, June 6, 2010, p. 24.
- ↑ Slovenski mučenec Lojze Grozde. P. 68, the complete poem can be found on p. 187.
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↑
Bolestni sonet (del) Slovenija, Slovenija, ti moja rana!
Pozabljena, prezrta in izdana,
sovragu prepuščena brez moči!
Stegnile so krvave se roke,
da te oskrunijo, raztrgajo, zdrobe -
miruj, srce, miruj: Bog še živi. - ↑ Today that would be the eighth grade. So he was only fourteen years old at the time. ( Slovenski mučenec Lojze Grozde , p. 114).
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↑
Utrinek (del) Spodaj je drevo,
mrtvo in golo;
zadnji list z njega
zdaj leti na tla:
vrača se v zemljo.
Pa se mi zazdi -
meni govori:
"Kmalu za menoj,
morda še nocoj,
šel boš tudi ti." - ↑ The report of the commission can be found in the chapter " Mučeništvo, najdenje in pokop " (Martyrdom, Finding and Burial). The otherwise sober Strle writes there: "So how cruelly Grozde had to suffer from the torture, especially when he was driven, completely battered and torn, into the forest for a quarter of an hour, where he was then dealt the fatal blow." Slovenski mučenec Lojze Grozde , p. 125
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Grozde, Lojze |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Grozde, Alojzij (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Slovenian poet and martyr |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 27, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zgornje Vodale |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 1, 1943 |
| Place of death | Mirna |