Martyred for Painting a Nativity Scene

Thank you Founding Fathers. You have truly left us Americans blessed. I am a Catholic and I went to Mass this morning without a care in the world. For many Catholics, the world over this has not always been the case. Other Americans practice their faith unencumbered. In a different place and during a different time, going to Mass would have meant a death sentence. Oftentimes, somewhere in this world, it still does.

What brought me to this young man I write about is seeing another young man doing what got the first one got arrested for doing. They had both put up Nativity scenes. One had painted a Nativity scene on a wall. The other man used to hang a huge poster of a Nativity scene across his garage door. There was no difference between the messages both men were giving. In fact, both men were 28 years old when they were doing this.

The difference was, one was in New Jersey and the year was 1974. He was decorating the outside of his house for Christmas. The other, Alois Andritzki, was in the Dachau Concentration Camp in Nazi Germany and the year was not 1974, it was 1941. The same message; one delivered by a free man with a happy heart as he told his young children all about Santa Claus. That man was me. The other delivered by a man who would be executed for doing exactly the same thing. I cannot imagine his suffering.

Alois Andritzki was born on July 2, 1914. His parents, Johann and Magdalena, were devout Catholics and, once a month, Johann would take all six of his kids to visit different shrines to show them the beauty and the mysteries of their faith. Alois, the fourth child, felt the calling to the priesthood early on. His older brothers, Jan and Great, also entered the priesthood. The youngest brother, Alfon, was killed while serving in the military in World War II.

When he had just turned 25, Alois was ordained a priest. The date was July 30, 1939. He offered his very first Mass on August 6, 1939 and had no inkling that within 18 months he would become an enemy of the Nazi state. He accomplished this because during the Christmas season of 1940 he produced a small Nativity play in the town of Dresden. (He also apparently was heard making “hostile statements" against the Nazi Party). On January 21, 1941, Father Alois was arrested by the Gestapo. Defending people's rights and religious freedoms and producing anti-Nazi plays was not appreciated by the ruling German government.

Father Alois was put in the prison in Dresden and a few months later transferred to Dachau. Dachau was the very first Nazi concentration camp and became known as the Priest's Barracks. More than 2700 clergy were incarcerated in Dachau and more than 2500 of them were Catholic clergy. Conditions were brutal and many never survived.

Father Alois, was a talented musician and artist. He was also an acrobat and entertained his fellow inmates by walking around on his hands. During Christmas season of 1942, Father Alois painted a depiction of the Nativity on the wall of the barracks to create a simple Christmas chapel. The Nazis were furious and would not tolerate such behavior on the part of inmates.

Father Alois, also ill with typhoid, asked if he could receive Holy Communion. The Nazi warden mocked him and said, "He wants Christ. We''ll give him an injection instead." Father Alois Andritzki was only 28 years old when he was given a lethal dose of carbolic acid by his captors.

Father Alois was declared a Servant of God by Pope St. John Paul II, on August 27, 1998. At his beatification ceremony on December 10, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI, declared that Blessed Alois Andritzki had died "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith) and, was indeed, a martyr.

Alois Andritzki, a young man of 28 years, a priest, stood tall in the face of death and stared it down for love of Christ. He will always be a shining example for us all.

Blessed Alois Andritzki, please pray for us all.

©Copyright Larry Peterson 2017