Joseph Joos (1878–1965) was a prominent German intellectual and politician. As a Member of Parliament in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, Joseph Joos grew to become one of the leading voices of the Centre Party in Germany. His convictions led him to become a political prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp from 1941 to 1945. After World War II, Joseph Joos became a close advisor to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

Life

Joseph Joos was born on 13 November 1878 in Wintzenheim, near

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, a region long disputed between France and Germany. At this time, Alsace was a part of Germany, which led Joos to follow the German education system. Following high school in Mulhouse and an apprenticeship in carpentry, Joos became the editor of the ''Ober-Elsaessischen Landeszeitung'', an Alsatian newspaper. As a committed Catholic, Joos got involved with the Volksverein für das katholische Deutschland (People’s Association for a Catholic Germany) in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

. He eventually became the editor of the ''Westdeutschen Arbeiterzeitung'', which relayed the views of the Christian Democratic party. In 1905, he became the editor in chief. During World War I, Joos was a strong advocate of democracy in his editorials. After France took over Alsace following the 1919

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

, Joos decided to remain involved in German politics and became an outspoken opponent of the then nascent

National Socialist 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 frequen ...

movement. When the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

came to power, Joos' political party came under a lot of pressure and his publications were often censored. In 1938, the Nazi authorities stripped Joos of his German citizenship as Alsatians were not considered reliable citizens in the imminence of a war. In 1940, Joos moved to

Köln Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

(Cologne) but was denounced and arrested for helping the

French resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

in Alsace. In 1940, he was transferred to prisoner camp in Weissenburg in Bayern, in July 1941 to 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 ...

jail in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

and subsequently to the concentration camp of Dachau. In April 1945, he was transferred with about 140 other political prisoners to Niederdorf (South Tyrol). He was freed in May 1945. As Alsace was now part of France and since Joos had lost his German citizenship, he was sent back to France. In 1949, Joos moved back to Germany but refused to take the German citizenship. Until 1960, he lived in

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

. Joos became involved again with the German Christian Democrats. Thanks to his personal background and his credibility with the new German government as well as with the French Resistance, Joos became a prominent advocate for a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. He rejoined the Christian Democratic Union and became a special advisor on European Affairs to the German Chancellor

. In 1960, he moved to

St Gallen St. Gallen is a Swiss city and the capital of the canton of St. Gallen. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration (with around 167,000 inhabitants in 2019) and rep ...

in Switzerland for health reasons. He died in St Gallen on 11 March 1965. Thanks to his lifelong piety and activism, on 8 December 1954, Joseph Joos was ordered Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem by Cardinal Nicola Canali, President of the Pontifical Commission for

Vatican City State Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

and Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Public Office

Joseph Joos attended the

Weimar National Assembly The Weimar National Assembly (German: ), officially the German National Constitutional Assembly (), was the popularly elected constitutional convention and de facto parliament of Germany from 6 February 1919 to 21 May 1920. As part of it ...

in January 1919 in his capacity of representative of the Christian Democrats of the Rhein region. He then became a full-time Christian Democrat deputy at the Weimar Reichsteig until November 1933. * 1920-1933: Member of the Zentrum (Center Party) coalition in Parliament * 1922: President of the Deutschen Katolischen Katholikentags in Munich and Chairperson of the Windthorstbundes, a youth organization of the Center Party * 1926-1932: Member of the

Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold The (, , simply in short) was an organization in Weimar Republic, Germany during the Weimar Republic with the goal to defend German parliamentary democracy against internal subversion and extremism from the left and right and to compel the ...

organization * 1927: Chairman of the German Catholic Worker Movement * 1928: Chairman of the international Catholic Worker Movement * 1928: Member of the Volksverein für das katholische Deutschland (People Association for a Catholic Germany) * 1933: Resignation from the management board of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK)

References

External links

Publications from and on Joseph Joos in the German National Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joos, Joseph 1878 births 1965 deaths People from Haut-Rhin People from Alsace-Lorraine German Roman Catholics Centre Party (Germany) politicians Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold members Catholic Workers Dachau concentration camp survivors Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from St. Gallen (city)

Life

Public Office

References

Further reading

External links