A German martyr against Nazism

Fr. Alfred Delp, S.J., was executed by hanging by the Nazis in the Plotenzee prison,  in Germany on February 2, 1945. He formed part of a small group that met to discuss ideas for a post-war Germany. Imprisoned in 1944 one of the proofs that he was treasonous was that he was a member of the Jesuits.

While in prison he wrote incredible reflections some of which are published in Alfred Delp: Prison Writings. In the midst of the darkness of Nazism and prison they are words of incredible hope. As he wrote:

“What use are all the lessons learned through our suffering and misery if no bridge can be thrown from our side to the other shore? What is the point of our revulsion from error and fear if it brings no enlightenment, does not penetrate the darkness and dispel it? What use is it shuddering at the world’s coldness, which all the time grows more intense, if we cannot discover the grace to conjure up visions of better conditions?”