Matthias Mertens

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Matthias Mertens (born December 5, 1906 in Straelen , † February 1, 1970 in Gaesdonck ) was a German Roman Catholic priest and imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp .

Life

Matthias Mertens grew up on his parents' farm in Wachtendonk and graduated from the Collegium Augustinianum Gaesdonck in 1926 . From the summer semester of 1927 he studied Catholic theology in Münster and Bonn . In Bonn he was in the WKSt.V. in 1929/30 . Unitas-Salia Bonn and in Münster 1930/31 in the WKSt.V. UNITAS-Sugambria active, from which he left because of entering the seminary , but rejoined it later in life. The following year, on December 17, 1932, Mertens was ordained a priest by Auxiliary Bishop Johannes Scheifes in St. Paulus Cathedral in Münster .

Mertens then worked as a chaplain in Materborn , where he came into conflict with the National Socialist regime several times . So he was z. B. In 1935 he was charged with a violation of the treachery law in a special court because he had defended the Münster bishop, Clemens August Graf von Galen , in sermons . After the mild outcome of this process, the bishop transferred him to Oberhausen-Schmachtendorf as a chaplain to protect him . Here, too, Mertens soon appeared as a courageous critic of the NSDAP , for example when he and his pastor Eduard Albring boycotted the Reichstag elections in the spring of 1936 : “I publicly stated at the polling station that the election was being controlled and just as publicly refused to cast my vote Event was published by me and others as quickly as possible to a wide public. " Despite further reports, Mertens was able to continue his pastoral work until 1941. In July and August 1941, however, Mertens read the three NS-critical sermons of his bishop during the service, which is why the local NSDAP planned a demonstration against the bishop for September 21, 1941. On the same day, Mertens then recited the passages of the sermons that were particularly criticized by the NSDAP and distorted in the “ synchronized ” press. Mertens added the following words to his reading: “My worshipers! We are grateful to our Bishop that he broke a lance for truth, justice and justice, that he did it courageously where it was fraught with great dangers for him. Those who demonstrate against this are demonstrating against truth, law and justice. And that is not only unchristian, it is also extremely un-German, and everything that takes part is mob. "

As a result of this sermon, Mertens was reported again and after his conviction on April 17, 1942, he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp, where he immediately met his fellow inmate Karl Leisner, whom he knew from Materborn, in the so-called pastor's block . Leisner's ordination as a priest in the concentration camp on December 17, 1944 was a deeply impressive experience for Mertens, about which he later wrote his report Priestly Ordination Behind Barbed Wire (1949). He begins this with the words: “In the following, none of what the reader has heard and seen about the inhuman atrocities and hardships in German concentration camps should be glossed over or even reduced. No, it would rather be time to counter the growing opinion, as if the concentration camp atrocities could even be exaggerated. At least an average imagination would not be enough to simply make up the events behind the barbed wire fences of the Third Reich. But if someone wanted to describe their details - as the handling of the SS executioners or as the experiences of the victims concerned - without having been a witness, one would have to assume an ingenuity of truly pathological proportions. "

As the American troops were advancing, Mertens was released from Dachau concentration camp on April 9, 1945. In July he returned to Schmachtendorf. However, his health was badly damaged over the years in the concentration camp, which even several stays at the spa could not change much. So Mertens was first transferred to Recklinghausen as a hospital chaplain in 1949 to protect himself and provide better medical care . In August 1953 Mertens was finally appointed procurator , rector and initially also spiritual at his old school in Gaesdonck. In spite of all the health problems caused by the concentration camp imprisonment, he performed this service until his death and was thus significantly involved in the reconstruction of the Collegium Augustinianum after the Second World War .

Honors

In 1986 the Gregorstrasse in Schmachtendorf, which passed the St. Josef Church, was renamed Kaplan-Mertens-Weg , and in 1987 a memorial stone for Mertens was erected in front of the church.

Fonts

  • Ordination behind barbed wire. From the Dachau concentration camp. In: Neue Zürcher Nachrichten . In five parts on March 28, 29, 30, 31 and April 1, 1949. Complete also in: Gaesdoncker Blätter. 41, 1988. pp. 14-26.

literature

  • Heinz Boberach (edit.): Reports of the SD and the Gestapo on churches and church people in Germany 1934–1944. Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Mainz 1971, (= publications of the Commission for Contemporary History, 12). P. 611.
  • Vera Bücker: Chaplain Matthias Mertens. In: Vera Bücker (ed.): Cross under the swastika. Oberhausen Catholics in everyday Nazi life. Edited on behalf of the Catholic Committee and the Catholic City Secretariat of Oberhausen. Laufen, Oberhausen 2003, (= Church in Oberhausen, 6), ISBN 3-87468-196-3 , pp. 230-250.
  • Paul Dyckmans: Matthias Mertens. In: Gaesdoncker Blätter. 23rd year 1970. p. 118 f.
  • Christian Frieling: Matthias Mertens. No. 29753. In: Ders .: Priests from the Münster diocese in the concentration camp. 38 biographies. Aschendorff, Münster 1993, ISBN 3-402-05427-2 . Pp. 140-143.
  • Franz Hermes: Another honor for Matthias Mertens in Oberhausen. In: Gaesdoncker Blätter. 41, 1988. pp. 27-30.
  • Franz Hermes: Another memory of Matthias Mertens. In: Gaesdoncker Blätter. 37th year 1984. pp. 64-68.
  • Joseph Scholten: A confessor from Gaesdonck's ranks. A memory of Rector Matthias Mertens. In: Gaesdoncker Blätter. 37th year 1984. pp. 60-63. Also in: Gaesdoncker Blätter. NF 1st year 1999. Vol. II: Historical reading book. Ed. V. Jörg Baden u. Alois Tack. Pp. 110-113.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Quoted from: To a new picture of Bbr. Matthias Mertens (1906–1970), priest in Oberhausen-Schmachtendorf ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.alt.unitas-ruhrania.org
  2. ↑ Quoted from: To a new picture of Bbr. Matthias Mertens (1906–1970), priest in Oberhausen-Schmachtendorf ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.alt.unitas-ruhrania.org
  3. ↑ Quoted from: Christian Frieling: Matthias Mertens. No. 29753. In: Christian Frieling: Priests from the Münster diocese in the concentration camp. 38 biographies. Aschendorff, Münster 1993, pp. 140-143. P. 141.
  4. ^ Matthias Mertens: ordination behind barbed wire. From the Dachau concentration camp. In: Gaesdoncker Blätter. 41, 1988. pp. 14-26, p. 14.
  5. ↑ See: Franz Hermes: Another honor for Matthias Mertens in Oberhausen. In: Gaesdoncker Blätter. 41, 1988. pp. 27-30.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mertens, Matthias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clergyman and Nazi victim
DATE OF BIRTH 5th December 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Straelen
DATE OF DEATH 1st February 1970
Place of death Collegium Augustinianum Gaesdonck