Sarah Mitchell
The Nazi regime persecuted the Catholic Church in Germany and Poland, suppressing Catholic schooling, presses, and hospitals. During the German occupation of Poland, the Nazis closed, seized, or destroyed thousands of churches and monasteries. Many Catholic clergy were imprisoned at the Dachau concentration camp, where they were starved, injected with lethal substances, or subjected to exhausting labor and pseudo-medical experiments. The Nazis also established dedicated Clergy Barracks at Dachau, where an estimated 2,720 clergy were imprisoned, of whom 2,579 were Catholic. The number of Catholic clergy who died at Dachau is estimated to be between 692 and 1,034. In total, it is estimated that between 1939 and 1945, over 3,000 members of the Polish clergy were killed, with 1,992 dying in concentration camps.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of Catholic clergy killed at Dachau concentration camp | 1,034 |
| Number of Catholic clergy from Poland killed at Dachau concentration camp | 868 |
| Number of Catholic clergy from Poland killed during the German occupation of Poland | 1,811-1,992 |
| Total number of Catholic clergy from Poland killed | 2,800-2,873 |
| Total number of Catholic clergy killed | 3,000 |
| Number of Catholic nuns killed | 11 |
| Number of Catholic laypeople killed | 1,277 |
| Total number of Catholics killed | 6,000,000+ |
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What You'll Learn
Catholic clergy killed at Dachau concentration camp
The Dachau concentration camp was established in March 1933 near Munich in southern Germany. It was the first regular concentration camp established by the Nazi government and served as a model for all later concentration camps. The camp was divided into two sections: the camp area and the crematorium. The camp area consisted of 32 barracks, including one for clergy imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime and one reserved for medical experiments. Priests were frequently denounced, arrested, and sent to concentration camps, often on the basis of being "suspected of activities hostile to the state". Of a total of 2,720 clergy recorded as imprisoned at Dachau, 2,579 (or 94.88%) were Catholic.
During World War II, Dachau became the chief camp for Christian (mainly Catholic) clergy who were imprisoned for not conforming with the Nazi Party line. Over the next 12 years, 2,794 Catholic clergy were sent to Dachau, the majority from Poland. They were housed in a section known as the Priest Barracks. Notable prisoners included the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller, who survived the camp, and Dutch Carmelite Titus Brandsma, who died of a lethal injection in 1942.
Many Catholic priests were subjected to medical experiments, being exposed to malaria or given infections. Among the victims was Kazimierz Majdański, who survived to become the post-war archbishop of Szczecin-Kamień. When Pope John Paul II beatified 108 Polish martyrs of World War II in 1999, 43 Dachau inmates were among them.
Some of the Catholic clergy who died at Dachau include Blessed Gerhard Hirschfelder, who died of hunger and illness in 1942; Saint Titus Brandsma, a Dutch Carmelite who died of a lethal injection in 1942; Blessed Alojs Andritzki, a German priest who was given a lethal injection in 1943; Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, a priest with Czech roots dubbed the "Angel of Dachau" for his ministry to fellow prisoners, who died of typhoid in 1945; and Blessed Giuseppe Girotti, an Italian Dominican priest who died shortly before the camp's liberation in 1945, probably by lethal injection.
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Catholic clergy killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp
The Nazis' persecution of the Catholic Church in Germany led to the imprisonment and murder of many Catholic clergy members. The Dachau concentration camp was used by the Nazis for their most hated enemies, including Catholic priests. Dachau held many of the 108 Polish Martyrs of World War II, including Blessed Gerhard Hirschfelder, who died of starvation and illness in 1942, and Saint Titus Brandsma, a Dutch Carmelite who died by lethal injection in 1942.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was originally opened for Polish prisoners, including Catholic resistance fighters from France, Germany, Belgium, and other countries. Dispensing sacraments was strictly forbidden at Auschwitz-Birkenau, but priests secretly administered them, providing spiritual and psychological support to inmates.
One priest, Father Wladyslaw Grohs, celebrated Mass and heard confessions in his cell. In 1944, the camp's Nazi administrators attempted to deter Christmas observances by installing a decorated Christmas tree surrounded by dead bodies in the assembly yard. However, this did not stop Father Wladyslaw Grohs from celebrating Mass.
The exact number of Catholic clergy killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau is unknown, as 95% of the camp's archives were destroyed. However, it is estimated that 100,000 Poles were killed by German occupiers in Auschwitz's gas chambers and execution sites. Of the 46 volumes of Death Books, which recorded the deaths of approximately 69,000 prisoners between July 29, 1941, and December 31, 1943, 32,000 (46.8%) were listed as Roman Catholics. Six plaques commemorate 149 Roman Catholic priests and male religious members exterminated by the Nazis in the Auschwitz camp during World War II.
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Catholic clergy repression in Poland
The Catholic Church has been the predominant religious force in Poland, shaping not only its spiritual ethos but also its cultural and political identity. The Church has been the guiding force in the lives of the Polish people, with its influence extending to education, politics, and art. However, with the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Catholic Church in the country faced severe repression.
Nazi policy towards the Church was particularly harsh in the annexed regions of Poland, where they closed churches, seminaries, convents, and seminaries, and the majority of priests were arrested or executed. Between 1939 and 1945, over 3,000 members of the Polish clergy were killed, with 1,992 of them dying in concentration camps, including 787 at Dachau. The Dachau concentration camp was used by the Nazis for their most hated enemies, including Catholic priests. The Nazis also targeted Catholic clergy through censorship, propaganda, and the confiscation of church properties.
The Catholic Church in Poland faced significant repression under Communist rule as well. The Communist government, under the doctrine of Marxism, actively advocated for the disenfranchisement of religion and planned atheisation. The Church was seen as a rival competing for the citizens' allegiance, and the government attempted to suppress it through anti-religious propaganda and persecution of clergymen and monasteries. Many religious leaders faced arrest, exile, or execution, and most religious buildings were shut by the late 1930s. School curricula also emphasized scientific atheism over religious teachings.
Despite the repression, the Catholic Church in Poland continued to resist both the Nazis and the Communist regime. Catholics across occupied Europe risked their lives to protect Jews from concentration camps, and the Church provided spiritual guidance and became a bastion of national identity and cultural preservation. Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years, played a pivotal role in shaping Poland's religious and political landscape during its communist era. His papal visits to Poland became massive gatherings that subtly challenged the communist regime.
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Catholic clergy repression in Czechoslovakia
During World War II, the Nazi regime annexed Czechoslovakia, dividing it into the mainly Czech Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and the newly declared Slovak Republic. A significant portion of Czechoslovakia was directly annexed by Nazi Germany. The Nazis' persecution of the Catholic Church was particularly severe in the annexed territories, where they sought to dismantle the Church.
In Czechoslovakia, the Nazis expelled ethnic Czech priests, deprived them of income, and forced them to perform labour, while seizing their properties. Religious orders were suppressed, private schools were closed, and religious instruction was forbidden in schools. 122 Czechoslovak Catholic priests were sent to the Dachau concentration camp, where 76 of them died. Many other clergymen were murdered.
Following the war, Czechoslovakia fell under communist rule. The communist regime also persecuted the Catholic Church, promoting scientific atheism and suppressing religious expression. Bishops were interned, and many priests and religious people were imprisoned and sent to labour camps. The Greek Catholic Church was forcibly repressed in favour of the Russian Orthodox Church, and its members were pressured to adopt a more pro-Russian attitude. The communist regime sought to control and restrict the activities of the Catholic Church, and numerous public trials of priests and Catholic intellectuals took place, with many tortured during interrogation.
During the Stalinist trials of the 1950s, over 6,000 religious people were imprisoned, and between 1948 and 1968, the number of priests declined by half, with many aging clergy over sixty years old. The Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia operated both openly and clandestinely, with approximately one-quarter of the Catholic clergy ministering illegally in the 1980s.
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Catholic clergy resistance
The Nazi regime persecuted the Catholic Church in Germany, targeting clergy, religious women and men, and lay leaders. Many Catholic priests were arrested, tortured, and executed by the Nazis, who also forcibly closed churches, monasteries, and convents. The Nazis also seized church properties, using them for their own purposes, such as cinemas and brothels.
The Catholic Church provided the earliest and most enduring centres of systematic opposition to Nazi policies. Many German resistors were motivated by Christian morality and the anti-church policies of the Nazis, which led to a "moral revolt" against Hitler. This resistance took the form of protests, petitions, and strikes. For example, in 1941, German Catholics protested the confiscation of church properties and the mistreatment of Catholics in Germany, including the arrests and imprisonment without legal process. In the same year, Catholics in the Netherlands took part in strikes and protests against the Nazi treatment of Jews.
Some Catholic clergy were also involved in the German Resistance. For instance, the Dominican Province of Teutonia provincial and spiritual leader of the German Resistance, Laurentius Siemer, was influential in the Committee for Matters Relating to the Orders, which formed in response to Nazi attacks on Catholic monasteries. Other German Resistance members included the Kreisau Circle and 20 July plotters Claus von Stauffenberg, Jakob Kaiser, and Bernhard Letterhaus. Bishops Johannes de Jong and Jules-Géraud Saliège, papal diplomat Angelo Rotta, and the nun Margit Slachta also resisted the Nazis.
Pope Pius XI issued the Mit brennender Sorge encyclical in March 1937, condemning racism and accusing the Nazis of violations of its treaty and "fundamental hostility" towards the church. This encouraged Catholics to continue speaking out against the Nazi regime. Other notable Catholic figures who opposed the Nazis included Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber of Munich, Cardinal Conrad Count von Preysing of Berlin, Bishop Clemens August Count von Galen of Münster, Archbishop von Preysing of Berlin, Cardinal Bertram of Breslau, and Cardinal Schulte of Cologne.
The Nazis established a dedicated clergy barracks at the Dachau concentration camp, where 95% of its 2,720 inmates were Catholic. Over 1,000 priests died at Dachau, including 787 Poles. In total, it is estimated that between 1939 and 1945, over 3,000 members of the Polish clergy were killed, with 1,992 dying in concentration camps.
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Frequently asked questions
It is estimated that 1,811 Polish Catholic priests were sent to concentration camps, with 1,992 dying in the camps.
Several thousand nuns were sent to camps, and many were killed en route. 11 Polish nuns were shot by the Gestapo in 1943.
In Auschwitz, 46.8% of prisoners listed in the Death Books were Roman Catholics.
It is estimated that 20,000 Catholics were killed in one town during the Warsaw Uprising.
It is estimated that between 1.8 and 5.5 million Polish civilians were killed during the war, including 3 million Polish Jews. Thousands more Catholic clergy and laypeople were also killed.
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