Albert Willimsky (29 December 1890 – 22 February 1940) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Roman Catholic priest active in resistance movement against the

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

, martyred in the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

Biography

Willimsky was born on 29 December 1890 in Oberglogau (now

Głogówek Głogówek (, , , ) is a small historic town in southern Poland. It is situated on the Osobloga River, in Opole Voivodeship of the greater Silesian region. The city lies approximately from Opole, the capital of the voivodeship, and is about fro ...

) in

Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (; ; ) was a provinces of Prussia, province of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1742 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part ...

. After he finished secondary school, he started his theological studies at the Breslau University. During the World War I, he decided to suspend his studies to work as a medic and later, as a radio-telegraphist. He was ordained as a priest on at the cathedral of Breslau Diocese, and became a vicar in

Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian language, Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital. It is one ...

. In 1933, while he was a provost in

Friesack Friesack (; also Friesack/Mark) is a town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany. It is situated northeast of Rathenow, and southwest of Neuruppin. It is known for its Mesolithic archaeological site. History Durin ...

(Havelland district), he openly criticized

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, and because of that he fell into conflict with local authorities. In he had to leave this parish and became a provost in Gransee. In , he was arrested for the first time by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. He was freed on and in July of the same year he became a provost in Podjuchy – which was at the time the only Roman Catholic parish in Stettin (now

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

). Here he encountered maltreatment of Polish forced labourers working in extremely difficult conditions. His further criticism of Nazism and protection of the Polish labourers led to his denunciation in , when he was arrested for the second time and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg. He died several weeks later.

Memory

* Parc named ''Park im. Alberta Willimskyego'' in Szczecin-Podjuchy, where he worked in years 1939-1940, * Commemorative plaque in a crypt of St. Hedwig's Cathedral, * Commemorative plaque in Gransee, also in memory priest Paul Bartsch. File:Gransee Willimsky-Bartsch WT2005.jpg, Commemorative plaque in Gransee in memory of priests Albert Willimsky and Paul Bartsch, who spoke for Polish forced labourers in times of nazism File:Gedenktafel_Hinter_der_Katholischen_Kirche_3_(Mitte)_Christen_im_Widerstand2.jpg, A part of a commemorative plaque in memorial of Catholics of Archdiocese of Berlin murdered during the war, in a crypt of St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin

Bibliography

* Bogdan Frankiewicz, ''Ksiądz Albert Willimsky - przykład chrześcijańskiej postawy wobec zbrodni nazizmu.'' w pracy zbiorowej pod red. Mariana Grzędy ''Antyfaszystowska działalność Kościoła katolickiego i ewangelickiego na Pomorzu Zachodnim. : Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer i ksiądz Albert Willimsky.'' Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego, Szczecin 2003. * Helmut Moll, Ursula Pruß, ''Pfarrer Albert Willimsky in monography: Zeugen für Christus. Das deutsche Martyrologium des 20. Jahrhunderts'' site 94-97. Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 1999. * Heinz Kühn, '' Blutzeugen des Bistums Berlin. Klausener, Lichtenberg, Lampert, Lorenz, Simoleit, Mandrella, Hirsch, Wachsmann, Metzger, Schäfer, Willimsky, Lenzel, Froehlich''. Morus-Verlag, Berlin 1952

External links

Priest Albert Willimsky’s biography
(Polish)

(German)
Website of Archidiocese of Berlin: Reminiscence of priest Albert Willimsky as a victim of nazism
(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Willimsky, Albert 1890 births 1940 deaths Roman Catholics in the German Resistance German Army personnel of World War I German civilians killed in World War II Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps People who died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp Martyred Roman Catholic priests 20th-century venerated Christians Clergy from the Province of Silesia Clergy from Szczecin People from Bytom 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests People from Głogówek