Werner Straub (clergyman)

Werner Straub (born May 5, 1901 in Saarbrücken , † February 9, 1945 in Oberwesel ) was a German Protestant clergyman of the Confessing Church .

Life

Werner Straub grew up as the son of Professor Otto Julius Straub in Saarbrücken. He attended the Ludwigsgymnasium , which he finished in 1920 with the Abitur . He then studied theology at the Humboldt University in Berlin . In 1924 he wrote his dissertation there on "Lexical questions in the translation of the New Testament ". In 1926 he was first assistant preacher in Essen , a year later he continued this activity in St. Arnual . He was ordained in 1927 . First it was used in Wadern , then in Karlsbrunn am Warndt . Naßweiler , St. Nikolaus , Großrosseln , Emmersweiler and Lauterbach also belonged to this community . As a pastor in these outlying districts of the Saar region and with good connections to the predominantly communist- oriented neighboring community of Ludweiler and official brothers in French Lorraine , Straub came into conflict with the NSDAP , which was able to unite 38% in the local council elections in Warndt in 1933. In the beginning of the voting campaign he stood against the German Christians and signed the two declarations of the Saarbrücken synod, which turned against this National Socialist split from the Protestant church.

Although Straub himself was a member of the German Front and he pledged to reintegrate, his community was boycotted by the National Socialists and he himself was monitored. The party leadership tried to take him out of office, but Hubert Nold , the superintendent of the Evangelical Church, stood before him in a protective manner . Straub then became a supporter of the Confessing Church and also openly rejected National Socialism. After the reorganization of the Saar area, he boycotted National Socialist collections, such as the Winter Relief Organization and Stew Sunday . The support from the Saarbrücken Synod was finally discontinued and Straub was put under pressure to give up his position in Karlsbrunn. He was also monitored by the Gestapo . Straub tried to apply for a pastor's position in Saarbrücken-Burbach , but was rejected. In April 1936 he left the parish brotherhood and in December of the same year he was banned from teaching because he was considered a "saboteur on the construction of the Führer". But Straub could not be pushed out of office. In the spring of 1937 he protested against the introduction of a Nazi community school by resigning from the National Socialist People's Welfare . On the founding day of the Reich in 1937 he renounced the flagging and received a penalty order. He also published a study on the imagery of the Apostle Paul in 1937.

On May 13, 1938, the Gestapo imposed a residence ban on the Saar-Palatinate district. Straub was transferred to Vohwinkel , where he was further monitored by the Gestapo. He didn't let himself get into debt for the next few years. He focused his work on science. In 1939 he was transferred to Marxloh , where he was bombed out in 1944. He was then evacuated to Metzingen and died on February 9, 1945 on the railway between Bacharach and Oberwesel when his train was bombed. His body was buried in Oberwesel.

literature

• Klaus-Michael Mallmann ; Gerhard Paul : The fragmented no. Saarlanders against Hitler . Ed .: Hans-Walter Herrmann (=  resistance and refusal in Saarland 1935–1945 . Volume 1 ). Dietz , Bonn 1989, ISBN 3-8012-5010-5 , p. 252-256 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Klaus-Michael Mallmann ; Gerhard Paul : The fragmented no. Saarlanders against Hitler . Ed .: Hans-Walter Herrmann (=  resistance and refusal in Saarland 1935–1945 . Volume 1 ). Dietz , Bonn 1989, ISBN 3-8012-5010-5 , p. 252 .
2. ↑ DNB 36172795X