Dachau: ‘the largest cemetery of Catholic priests in the world’

February 03, 2015

2,579 Catholic priests, seminarians, and religious were deported from across Europe to the Dachau concentration camp, according to a newly published French book.

1,034 of them, 868 of whom were Polish, died there.

According to Guillaume Zeller’s La Baraque des prêtres, Dachau, 1938-1945, the priests included German priests who spoke out against euthanasia, Polish priests who were considered part of Poland’s elite, French priests who resisted the Nazis, and a French bishop who aided the Jews.

“The Dachau camp remains the largest cemetery of Catholic priests in the world,” said Zeller in an interview with Le Figaro. They “maintained their humanity” throughout their imprisonment as they celebrated the sacraments, aided the sick, and carried on clandestine ordinations and theological training.

141 Orthodox and Protestant clergymen were also imprisoned at Dachau.

 

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Further information:

• Guillaume Zeller: «2 579 prêtres catholiques et séminaristes ont été déportés à Dachau» (Le Figaro)