A FAMILY MAN- MARTYR

 

Another lay martyr of WWII was BL. NIKOLAUS GROSS, who was born near Essen, Germany. He first worked in crafts requiring skilled labor before becoming a coal miner like his father while joining a range of trade union and political movements. But he finally settled on becoming a journalist.

His work with the unions took him throughout Germany and he eventually settled in the Ruhr Valley. There, he married his wife, Elizabeth, and the couple had seven children. He was a devoted father who tried to raise his children to be good Catholics and faithful citizens.

Bl. Nikolaus became aware of the political movements within Germany, including the rise of Adolf Hitler. As the Nazis came to power, he served as the editor of a German workers’ newspaper and was able to give voice to his Catholic faith as he tried to address the complicated political realities of his day.

 In 1930 he wrote, “As Catholic workers, we reject Nazism not only for political and economic reasons, but decisively also, resolutely and clearly, on account of our religious and cultural attitude.”

 Because of his strong stance, he was marked as an “enemy of the state” and became a target of the Nazis.

In 1940 he endured interrogations and house searches since he was being monitored at the time. On 12 August 1944 he was arrested sometime towards noon in connection with the failed plot to kill Hitler at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia. He was first taken to Ravensbrück and then to Berlin at the Tegel prison (from September 1944) where his wife visited him twice and reported the torture done to a hand and both his arms.

His letters from prison testify to his spirit of prayer and dedication to his family.

He was executed on January 23, 1945. The priest who was with him at the time of his death testified, “Gross bowed his head silently during the blessing. His face already seemed illuminated by the glory into which he was getting ready to enter.” His remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered at a sewage plant. He died soon after the Servant of God Eugen Bolz who was imprisoned in the same prison.

 He was beatified in 2001 by Pope St. John Paul II. His feast is January 15.

“If we do not risk our life today, how then do we want to justify ourselves one day before God and our people.”   Blessed Nikolaus Gross