Oswald Damian

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Oswald Damian in 1917

Oswald Damian (born March 3, 1889 in Walsheim ; † 1978 in ibid.) Was a Protestant theologian who was active as a religious-socialist pastor in the resistance against National Socialism .

Life

Oswald Damian studied theology in Zurich in 1912 , where he met Leonhard Ragaz , who got him enthusiastic about religious socialism. In the 1920s he preached like August Kopp , Georg Wambsganß and Julius Lehmann in the Palatinate. His home community was initially Dahn , a transfer to St. Ingbert in the Saar area failed because of his political convictions. So he went to Pirmasens . In his sermons he compared the Jesus movement with socialism and drew parallels to the social situation in the Weimar Republic . He was also a friend of the peace movement and a staunch pacifist who emphasized Jesus' non-violence. The NSDAP displeased his convictions , which attempted to threaten Damian with a church service procedure and a smear campaign.

In 1932 Damian published the 32-page brochure “ Religion is in danger ”, in which he attacked the Nazi ideology and described positive Christianity as “Aryan-ethnic racism”. He also published other NS-critical articles in the weekly magazine Der Religiöse Sozialist . In 1932 he became chairman of the religious-socialist state association of the Palatinate. He was one of the "few Palatinate pastors (...) who fought against National Socialism".

After the seizure of power , Damian was interned in the temporary protective custody camp in Rheinpfalz . it was an early concentration camp that was set up for a few months between Speyerdorf and Neustadt an der Weinstrasse . However, the National Socialists released him for a short period so that he could have a confirmation in Pirmasens. On July 16, 1933, he was given provisional retirement and conditionally released. In 1934 he was assigned a small pastor's position in Dörrenbach and was thus sidelined for the remainder of the Third Reich .

After 1945 he tried to revive religious socialism, but it did not succeed. He remained true to the burgeoning peace movement and his political ideals. A manuscript of a novel called “ Too Late ”, which was about peace and disarmament , was found in his estate .

Works

  • Religion is in danger! . Mannheim: Publishing House of the Religious Socialists 1932.

literature

  • Karlheinz Lipp: Against fascism and war: The Palatinate pacifist and religious socialist Oswald Damian . In: Hans-Georg Meyer, Hans Berlkessel (Ed.): The time of National Socialism in Rhineland-Palatinate. Volume 1 . ISBN 3-87439-451-4 , pp. 50-56 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karlheinz Lipp: Against fascism and war: The Palatinate pacifist and religious socialist Oswald Damian . In: Hans-Georg Meyer, Hans Berlkessel (Ed.): The time of National Socialism in Rhineland-Palatinate. Volume 1 . ISBN 3-87439-451-4 , pp. 53 .
  2. ↑ The Nazi memorial in Neustadt is to be opened in March. (No longer available online.) Epd , archived from the original ; Retrieved July 1, 2013 .
  3. ^ National Socialist camps in Rhineland-Palatinate. State Center for Civic Education Rhineland-Palatinate, archived from the original on July 23, 2012 ; Retrieved July 1, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Damian, Oswald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant theologian, religious-socialist pastor
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Walsheim
DATE OF DEATH 1978
Place of death Walsheim