Jean Bernard (13 August 1907 – 1 September 1994) was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest from

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

who was imprisoned from May 1941 to August 1942 in the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

concentration camp at

Dachau Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

. He was released for nine days in February 1942 and allowed to return to Luxembourg, an episode which he later wrote about in his memoirs of the camp and which was turned into a film.

Life

Born in 1907, the sixth of ten children, into the family of a Luxembourg businessman, he attended the Athénée de Luxembourg until 1925, then studied at the university of

Louvain Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and then studied theology and philosophy at the Catholic seminary in Luxembourg. He was awarded a doctorate in philosophy in 1933. He was ordained to the priesthood on 30 July 1933 in Luxembourg. From 1934, he headed the international Catholic film bureau (OCIC) in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

until it was closed down 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 ...

in June 1940. He then became involved in helping Luxembourg families who had fled to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

ahead of the German forces to return to their home country. On 6 February 1941, he was arrested by the German

as a symbol of Luxembourg Catholic resistance to German occupation; that May he was sent to Dachau. In February 1942, he was unexpectedly released for nine days. He believed that this was part of a scheme to persuade six Luxembourgish priests to publicly voice their support for the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. Bernard refused to cooperate, and was sent back to Dachau. He was definitively released on 5 August 1942, apparently due to the intervention by his brother with senior Nazi officials in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Until September 1944, when Luxembourg was liberated, Bernard lived in a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

. After the war, he served as the editor of the ''

Luxemburger Wort ''Luxemburger Wort'' (; ) is a German-language Luxembourgish daily newspaper. There is an English edition named the ''Luxembourg Times''. It is owned by Mediahuis Luxembourg. History and profile ''Luxemburger Wort'' has been published since 184 ...

'', held senior positions in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Luxembourg, and received many awards. From 1945 to 1946 he described his experiences in a series of articles in the ''Wort'', under the title ''Dachau. Aus dem Tagebuch eines Sträflings'',''

.'' 19 May 1945 to 4 June 1946. and later in the book'' Pfarrerblock 25487''. The book was the basis for

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He ha ...

's film ''

The Ninth Day ''The Ninth Day'' is a 2004 German historical drama film directed by Volker Schlöndorff and starring Ulrich Matthes and August Diehl. It was released by Kino International. The film is about a Catholic priest from Luxembourg who is imprison ...

'' (''Der neunte Tag''), released in November 2004, about his nine-day release from Dachau. From 1947 to 1970, Bernard was president of the International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisual (OCIC, which later became

SIGNIS SIGNIS (official name: World Catholic Association for Communication) is a Roman Catholic ecclesial movement of the Faithful for professionals in the communication media, including press, radio, television, cinema, video, media education, int ...

). He had been its general secretary from 1933 to 1947. In 1955 he was appointed honorary canon of the cathedral in Luxembourg. In 1958 he retired as editor for health reasons, but continued to work at the newspaper. In 1970, Bernard was appointed an honorary

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

by Pope

Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

. He was a member of the papal commission for film, radio and television; for the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, he was a member of the working group on the press, film, radio and television, and was president of the Commission for the persecuted church, within the International Catholic Organisations Conference. He died on 1 September 1994.

Honours

* Officer of the

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (, , ) is an order (honour), order of the Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by William II of the Netherlands, Grand Duke William II, who was also King o ...

* Knight of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

* Knight of the

Order of Leopold (Belgium) The Order of Leopold (, , ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Leopold I. It consists of a military, a ma ...

* Stella della Solidarietà

Works

Publications

* ''Pfarrerblock 25487''. (Reprint) Luxembourg 2004. ** Schneider, Deborah Lucas (English translation). ''Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau. ''2007.'' ''

Filmography

* ''Mat Läif a Séil am Seminaire''. (''With Heart and Soul in the Seminary'') 1932, 23 minutes.

References

External links

* Krieps, Roger
''Hut ab vor Mgr. Bernard!''
Obituary in ''forum'', No. 154, October 1994. *
''Der Neunte Tag'' by Volker Schlöndorff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Jean Luxembourgian Roman Catholic priests Luxembourgian non-fiction writers Luxembourgian male non-fiction writers Luxembourgian journalists Luxemburger Wort people 1907 births 1994 deaths People from Luxembourg City Luxembourgian people imprisoned abroad Dachau concentration camp survivors Luxembourg Resistance members Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg 20th-century Roman Catholic priests 20th-century journalists