Paul Bartsch (pastor)

Paul Bartsch (* 31 March 1901 in Borek, Posen ; † 23. March 1950 in Gransee ) was a German Roman Catholic priest , because of his pastoral care of Polish forced laborers in the Dachau concentration camp was imprisoned. After the Second World War he was the victim of a robbery in the GDR .

Life

Memorial plaque for Albert Willimsky and Paul Bartsch at the rectory in Gransee on Grünstraße

Paul Bartsch grew up in Berlin and studied Catholic theology in Breslau . The training program included a four-semester study of the Polish language as preparation for pastoral care for Polish minorities in Upper Silesia or Western Pomerania as well as for Polish seasonal workers. Paul Bartsch was ordained a priest on February 15, 1925 . He then worked as a chaplain in the parishes of St. Mauritius in Berlin-Lichtenberg , Heilig Kreuz Frankfurt (Oder) and Assumption of Mary in Berlin-Charlottenburg .

In October 1934 Bartsch took over pastoral care as Kuratus in the diaspora community of Cammin , which covers the entire district of Cammin i. Pom. included. During the Second World War Pastor Bartsch took care of Polish forced laborers in his parish. He was arrested for this activity for the first time in January 1941 and finally in early May 1943 and spent about two years in prison and in the Dachau concentration camp . After 1945 he stayed in the diocese of Augsburg before he could return to his home diocese . In 1947 he was given the parish of St. Hubertus in Petershagen , but from there he was transferred to Gransee in January 1948 . On March 23, 1950, he was murdered on the way home from a pastoral trip. His grave is in the Gransee cemetery.

literature

Wolfgang Knauft: Paul Bartsch. Forgotten Berlin witness of faith 1901–1950. Berlin 2010.