Karl Leisner

Karl Leisner was a German Catholic priest who became a martyr and was beatified by Pope John Paul II. His life, marked by faith and resistance to totalitarianism, culminated in his suffering and death within a concentration camp.

Life and Historical Context

Born on February 28, 1915, in Rees, Germany, Karl Leisner was the eldest of five children. His family moved to Kleve when he was six, where his father worked as a civil servant. Leisner completed his gymnasium studies in 1934 and entered the seminary in Munich that same year. During his youth, he was an altar boy and, at the suggestion of his high school chaplain, formed a Catholic youth group known as the Saint Werner Group. These groups combined prayer with outdoor activities and Leisner proved to be a natural leader.

In the 1930s, as the Nazi party gained control, Leisner actively worked to protect his youth group from Nazi interference, often by organizing camping trips to neighboring countries like Holland and Belgium. In 1934, he was named Diocesan Youth Leader by Bishop Clemens August von Galen. Despite facing compulsory agricultural work and Nazi opposition, he organized Sunday Mass for his fellow workers. In 1937, his parents' home was raided by the Gestapo, who confiscated his diaries and papers. These documents later provided insight into his spiritual development and leadership.

On March 25, 1939, Leisner was ordained a deacon. Shortly after, a medical examination revealed he had contracted tuberculosis, a disease for which the primary treatment was rest and fresh air, leading him to a sanatorium in St. Blasien. It was during his recovery that he was overheard criticizing Adolf Hitler, resulting in his arrest by the Gestapo on November 9, 1939, as a political prisoner. He was initially imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp before being transferred to Dachau on December 14, 1940, where he was assigned prisoner number 22,356 and placed in the priests' block.

Imprisonment and Ordination

The harsh conditions in Dachau, including exposure to cold and wet weather, poor rations, and brutal treatment, exacerbated Leisner's tuberculosis. He was beaten unconscious by Gestapo guards and, by March 1942, was spitting blood. He was moved to the infirmary, a place where medical experiments were conducted and where incurably ill patients were often executed. Fellow prisoners helped prevent him from being sent to the Hartheim extermination clinic.

On December 17, 1944, Gaudete Sunday, a fellow prisoner, French Bishop Gabriel Piguet, secretly ordained Leisner a priest. This ordination was facilitated by the smuggling of necessary paperwork and items into the camp by Josefa Mack, known as the "Angel of Dachau." Imprisoned Protestant pastors helped organize the ceremony, and a Jewish violinist played music to create a diversion. The newly ordained priest was so ill that he could only celebrate one Mass and had to postpone his first Mass for over a week.

Liberation and Legacy

When Dachau was liberated on May 4, 1945, Leisner was transferred to a sanatorium in Planegg, near Munich. He died there a few months later, on August 12, 1945, from tuberculosis. His body was returned to Kleve and buried on August 20, 1945. His remains were later exhumed and re-interred in the crypt of the Cathedral of Xanten in 1966.

Karl Leisner was recognized as a martyr for the Catholic faith. Pope John Paul II beatified him on June 23, 1996, along with Bernhard Lichtenberg. His feast day is commemorated on August 12.

Leisner also had a connection to the Schoenstatt movement, which he encountered as a teenager. He founded the first Schoenstatt group in Dachau with Josef Fischer and later belonged to the "Victor in vinculis Mariae" group. From this spiritual fraternity, he drew strength to accept his fate and offer his life as a martyr.