Philipp Bleek

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Philipp Bleek (born February 9, 1878 in Los Leones , Santa Fé , Argentina ; † July 17, 1948 there ) was a German Protestant clergyman and resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Life

Philip Bleek was born in 1878 as the son of a landowner who looked after Protestant Christians from Germany and Switzerland on behalf of the Evangelical High Church Council in Argentina . After graduating from high school in Bonn, Bleek studied Protestant theology in Bonn, Neuchâtel and Berlin. Then he started a vicariate in Trarbach and Krefeld . Through his marriage to Ada Ruppersberg, daughter of local researcher Albert Ruppersberg , he came to Saarland , where he worked as an assistant pastor in Malstatt-Burbach from 1904 . He was ordained on August 16, 1905 and appointed pastor in 1908. In the following years he was strongly committed to the concerns of the workers. In the 1930s, for example, he co-founded the Evangelical Emergency Aid, which tried to support the workers during the global economic crisis .

Despite his socio-political commitment, he represented German national interests in the 1920s and 1930s and campaigned for the return of the Saar region to the German Reich . His patriotism was not tarnished by the appointment of Adolf Hitler , even though he was involved in internal church conflicts from the start. He was one of 24 pastors from the Saarbrücken Synod who opposed the German Christians . He adopted the appeal “ For the Gospel and the Church in the German People ” and was a member of the parish brotherhood. On July 1, 1934, he accepted the Barmer Declaration and thus became a member of the Confessing Church in the Saar region.

Nevertheless, Bleek initially did not reject National Socialism , but looked for common ground. On September 17, 1934, together with Superintendent Hubert Nold and his colleagues Otto Wehr and Carl Roderich Richter , he protested in writing to Hitler against the violent measures of the German Christians.

After Nold's death in 1935, Bleek became head of the Saarbrücken church district and, in this function, signed an agreement on cooperation between state and church in 1935, which came from Reich Commissioner Josef Bürckel . However, the disputes from the period of upheaval between the Confessing Church and the German Christians continued. In 1936 there was a dispute over the filling of a church position in Fechingen . This conflict, later known as the “ Fechinger pastor's dispute”, about a vacant position that both the Confessing Church and the German Christians wanted to fill, led to Bleek's arrest by the Gestapo . He had tried to prevent an information service in the Fechingen church and to hold his own service in front of the church with his candidate Anton Eissen . After a short “ protective custody ”, he was released on the same day. The conflict that followed escalated several times.

Finally, Bleek was reported by the parents of a confirmation candidate in January 1937 for anti-state sentiments. Bleek had expressed disrespect for Alfred Rosenberg and his main work The Myth of the 20th Century and had slapped a confirmant . On February 28, 1937 Bleek was therefore dismissed from the church school service, against which he protested. As a pastor, he also campaigned against a Nazi community school and published a leaflet.

On June 24, 1937, together with other members of the Confessing Church, he issued a leaflet calling for an election boycott in church elections. These elections would "degrade the church leadership to executive bodies". On June 27, Bleek was arrested and transferred to Lerchesflur Prison. He was charged with violations of the treachery law. Bleek was released from custody on February 28, 1938 and was subsequently expelled from Saarland. However, the proceedings against him continued.

In Dortmund he represented a colleague for a few months. However, he suffered a heart attack in June 1938 from which he recovered slowly. He and his wife managed to get an exit application approved in 1939. The couple traveled to Argentina to see Bleek's parents to help Bleek's recovery. A planned return was prevented by the Second World War . Bleek's trial was discontinued in 1940.

In La Plata Bleek worked as an assistant pastor until his retirement in 1944. He died on July 17, 1948 at the age of 70. After his death, a square in Malstatt was named after him.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Klaus Michael Mallmann / Gerhard Paul: The splintered no. Saarlanders against Hitler . Dietz, Bonn 1989, ISBN 3-8012-5010-5 , p. 29 .
personal data
SURNAME Bleek, Philipp
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant clergyman and resistance fighter against National Socialism
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Leones , Santa Fe, Argentina
DATE OF DEATH July 17, 1948
Place of death Los Leones , Santa Fe, Argentina