Werner Koch (pastor)

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Werner Koch (born December 26, 1910 in Bielefeld ; † July 31, 1994 in Emlichheim ) was a German pastor , Reformed theologian , journalist and resistance fighter against National Socialism.

Life

After attending school, Werner Koch studied Protestant theology in Marburg , Tübingen , Paris and Bonn . After his studies he attended the (illegal) seminary of the Confessing Church in Finkenwalde under Dietrich Bonhoeffer . From 1935/36 he reported on the church struggle for various foreign press organs . Meanwhile , he served his vicariate in Wuppertal - Barmen . He was supported in his correspondent work by his friend Ernst Tillich . Koch was arrested on November 13, 1936 on suspicion of having passed on the memorandum of the Confessing Church to Hitler to the foreign press. Tillich and Friedrich Weißler had already been arrested in October. Koch was taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp on February 13, 1937 , where he remained until his release on December 2, 1938. He was released on a whim of Himmler , whom a friend of Koch's father asked to release.

Until he was drafted into the Wehrmacht in November 1939, he then worked for the Evangelical Press Association for the Rhineland. During the war he was first used as an interpreter in Emsland , and in the summer of 1942 he was transferred to the Russian front , where he was soon wounded. After his recovery he worked as an armed forces interpreter for French in the Ruhr area . In March 1945 he deserted ; he was brought to Ascot , where the English War Ministry had set up a special camp for German prisoners of war on the royal racecourse who had identified themselves as opponents of National Socialism. He worked there as a camp pastor. At the same time he took up his journalistic activities again and worked for the London radio . From 1947 to 1969 he was parish priest in Berlin , Espelkamp and Netphen , after which he worked as a religion teacher in the county of Bentheim .

During his entire professional life, Werner Koch was also always active as a journalist. In 1972 he received his doctorate in theology in Paris.

As a contemporary witness and eloquent guest, Koch traveled around the world on lecture tours for many years. In retirement in Emlichheim, he was involved in the anti-fascist German-Dutch organization “Nooit meer / Nie wieder”, of which he was chairman for a long time. For many years Koch was one of the presidents of the Sachsenhausen Committee of the Federal Republic of Germany.

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personal data
SURNAME Koch, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German resistance fighter and Protestant clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH December 26, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Bielefeld
DATE OF DEATH July 31, 1994
Place of death Emlichheim