Paul Sauer (priest)

Paul Sauer

Paul Sauer (born September 26, 1892 in Bielitz , district of Falkenberg OS , † June 24, 1946 in Bolesławiec ) was a German priest who was captured by the Polish secret service after the end of World War II and died in custody .

Life

Sauer came from a farming family. In 1921 he received in Wroclaw the priesthood and was in the era of National Socialism from 1938 parish priest at the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption and St. Nicholas in Bolesławiec . He was highly musical and supported the ecumenical movement . He was temporarily detained for statements critical of the regime. When the Red Army invaded Lower Silesia in February 1945, he saved his church from looting and destruction. The rectory and church became a place of refuge for the persecuted and oppressed. He was a devoted pastor to all residents of Bunzlaus, Germans of both denominations, the newly arriving Poles and the many foreigners who were waiting in a collection camp for repatriation in Poland after the Second World War .

In 1946 he fell victim to a wave of persecution staged by the Polish secret service , together with around 100 other Germans in the city and district of Bunzlau . He was assumed to be the ringleader of an underground organization that wanted to recapture Silesia for Germany. The reason was taken from the fact that he had set up a postal connection to the West (the so-called Caritas Post) for the Germans who remained in his home country via his pastoral office. Contemporary witnesses report that he encouraged his fellow prisoners despite severe abuse. He died after almost two months in prison, a few days after his 25th anniversary as a priest.

Commemoration

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Paul Sauer's pastoral activity in Bunzlau, the Bundesheimatgruppe erected a memorial stone next to the parish church of St. Servatius (Siegburg) with the support of the sponsored town of Siegburg and the Catholic parish . Commemorative services will be held there on the anniversary of Sauer's death (June 24th).

On the initiative of the home group, an international conference was held in Bolesławiec in May 2004. Scientists and contemporary witnesses dealt with Archpriest Sauer and pleaded for his official rehabilitation . The home group then negotiated with state and church authorities in Poland and Germany in order to have a plaque of honor affixed in Bolesławiec. With this wish, she met with understanding from some of the city's residents: The exhibition “20 years of twinning with Siegburg” - conceived in Bunzlau in 2012 and to be seen in Siegburg's town hall until June 2013 - documented the Paul Sauer event of 2004 as a milestone of the Town twinning.

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  Memorial stone in Siegburg

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  Unveiling of the memorial in Bolesławiec (2014)

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  Polish-German honor

Web links

Commons : Paul Sauer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ↑ When reading the pastoral letter on the 1st Sunday of Advent in 1941, he made additions that the Gestapo classified as anti-subversive. He was therefore questioned and warned by the Gestapo, but refused to sign the warning. On April 21, 1942, he was arrested and taken to the Liegnitz judicial prison, noting that his detention would last 21 days. After signing the warning, he was released on May 12, 1942.
2. ↑ During his third trip to Germany, John Paul II beatified the priests Bernhard Lichtenberg and Karl Leisner, who had been murdered by Germans, while ignoring Paul Sauer, who had been killed by Poland.
3. ↑ By whom and when Sauer was appointed honorary arch priest is not known.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ St. Maria Himmelfahrt and St. Nicholas
2. ↑ ^{a b} Martyr-Priest Sauer (Bundesheimatgruppe Bunzlau zu Siegburg)
3. ↑ Support and protection in difficult times. Commemoration of Bunzlau Pastor Paul Sauer on the 60th anniversary of his death. Rhein-Sieg Rundschau, June 30, 2006.
4. ↑ Sauer's memorial stone in Siegburg (Association of Expellees)