Alois Grimm

Alois Grimm (* October 24, 1886 in Külsheim, Germany, † hanged September 11, 1944 in Berlin) was a Martyr, Jesuit priest, Patristic scholar, educator, Grimm SJ, denunciated by SS soldiers for anti-German sentiments and sermons, was sentenced to death by the Nazis for undermining the Wehrmacht.

Early Years

After graduation, young Grimm could not decide as to whether he should follow a navy career or become a priest. Together with his father he made a retreat with Jesuits in Holland, since the order was outlawed in Germany since the Kulturkampf. In the Fall of 1907, he entered the Society of Jesus. His philosophical and theological studies were interrupted by World War One, which he spent as a nurse in military hospitals. 1920 he was consecrated priest and took on the German Speaking Catholic Mission in Florence, Italy. From 1922 until1926 he studied classic languages, Latin and Greek, and history in Vienna and Heidelberg. From 1926 on he teaches at the Jesuit school, Kolleg Stella Matutina in Feldkirch Austria and after 1934 at the Kolleg St. Blasien in Germany.

Theological research

As patristic scholar, Grimm worked on a critical edition of the Ambrosiaster for the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum CSEL in Vienna, Austria. The Ambrosiaster is a Latin commentary on Saint Paul, dating back to the fourth century. It exists in many hand-written versions (codices) and was to be written by Ambrose of Milan. Grimm’s research were aimed at restoring the original Ambrosiaster and to create so called “families” familiae of versions in their historical sequence. This would allow Grimm, to recreate the original edition, editio princeps. The authenticity of the Ambrosiaster was subject of several publications of Grimm.

Confrontation with National socialism

Alois Grimm was more than a professor for old languages and scholar. From a Christian perspective he opposed the Nazi ideology early on. This remained not unnoticed. A secular teacher at Kolleg St. Blasien, member of the NSDAP remarked, "Grimm talked in derogatory ways about our new ideology. I hope we will shut him up, for a long time, or better even, forever". [B.M. Kempner: Priester vor Hitlers Tribunalen. München 1967,p. 128] Grimm was aware, that he was spied upon and its possible consequences: It would be my greatest honour and luck, if something happens to me. [B.M. Kempner: Priester vor Hitlers Tribunalen. München 1967,p. 128] After the Jesuit Kolleg St. Blasien was closed by the Nazis, Father Grimm returned to Tisis, Austria, were he taught Latin in a nearby Catholic seminary and assisted in the local parish. In 1943, an SS soldier, in opposition to the Nazi regime, came to Grimm, and asked to be admitted to the Catholic Church. He attended regular private classes given by Father Grimm, had his wife and child baptized and finally presented “a friend” who wanted to enter the Church as well. October 1943, the Gestapo stopped at the rectory of the Parish , arrested Father Grimm and transferred him for interrogation to the infamous Gestapo prison in Innsbruck, Austria. There to Father Grimm’s great surprise was the “friend” a Gestapo agent, waiting for him.

Execution by hanging

Father Grimm was interrogated and mistreated by his “convert” and other Gestapo staff. After several weeks, he was transferred to Berlin, where he underwent torture, and further interrogations. On August 12, 1944, Roland Freisler of the Volksgerichtshof stripped Father Alois Grimm of all civil rights and sentenced him to death for undermining the fighting spirit of the German Wehrmacht in two instances. The two “converts both testified against Grimm, who stated, that he was trapped. Freisler screamed at him: 'Fishes are caught in different ways. I have to be very careful to catch a trout. If I want to catch a Jesuit, I have to use special methods. You swallowed it. That proved us right". His public defender, Lingenberg, wrote afterwards: "Father Grimm’s defence was one of the most horrible events in my whole life. It is a historical truth, which should not be forgotten, especially in a time, which tends to belittle the memory of the past". [B.M. Kempner: Priester... p. 125]

After his death sentence, Grimm wrote: "The hour has come, I am going home nto eternity. In a few hours, I will stand in front of my Judge, my Redeemer and my Father. It is God’s will, to be done everywhere. Don’t mourn over me, I am returning home, you have to wait. I give my life for the kingdom of God, which knows no end, for the society of Jesus, for the youth and religion of our home land". [B.M. Kempner: Priester... S. 135 ] On the same day, September 11, 1944, Father Alois Grimm was hanged.

Honours

Five years after the execution, his ashes were given a resting place at the Kolleg St. Blasien [B.M. Kempner Priester p. 135] by its Superior, Otto Faller: “Dear friend, this will be our vow on your silent grave, to live for the kingdom of God, which knows no end, for the society of Jesus, for the youth and religion of our home land. Farewell, dear friend. From now on, be custodian of this house and its ever renewing youth, protect us with your spirit and pray for us, so we may keep our promises, always”. [ Kolleg Brief Weihnachten 1956, Kolleg St.Blasien 1956, p.16]

With these words, Kolleg St. Blasien was dedicated to Alois Grimm in 1949. Afterwards, other schools, buildings, streets were named after Father Alois Grimm. Today, in his hometown Kuelsheim, there is a Father Alois Grimm school. In the Jesuit Church in Innsbruck and in Pullach near Munich, Father Grimm is honoured with memorial plaques. Last year, a new building in St. Blasien was named after him. Benedicta Kempner, the wife of US attorney Robert Kempner, war crime tribunals in Nuremberg set Alois Grimm a memorial in her book on the persecution of Catholic priests during the Nazi era.

Quotes of Father Grimm

** We live in a time, in which the Church of God is under attack like never before. Not compassion or pity, honour is being demanded today. But if the orders of this world are contrary to the orders of Christ, then the orders of the World are obviously wrong. Every human authority, yes, the authority of a whole people too, has to step back, before the authority of Christ. [Günther Schüly: Pater Alois Grimm. Kolleg Brief Weihnachten 1956, Kolleg St.Blasien 1956, p. 42]

** The suffering increases, the cross is getting heavier, as all seem to know. But Christ carrying his cross his our model, our consolation, even our joy. In front of us eternity full of light and the full victory of Christ, who will reign in truth forever. (1936) [B.M. Kempner: Priester... p. 126]

** We live in a difficult time. Our responsibility before God and before the coming centuries will be enormous. Our prayer, work and sacrifice must contribute, so that the present and future belong to Christ. This is a large and beautiful calling, which should fill us with joy, despite of all the sufferings. This is not the time for petty jealousies or self-pity. Everything is at stake.(1937) [Günther Schüly, Pater Alois Grimm, Kolleg Brief Weihnachten 1956, Kolleg St. Blasien 1956, p. 41]

Bibliography

** Benedicta Maria Kempner: "Priester vor Hitlers Tribunalen". München 1967
** Günther Schüly: "Pater Alois Grimm." Kolleg Brief Weihnachten 1956, Kolleg St. Blasien 1956, PP. 35 - 48

Notes

Persondata
NAME= Grimm, Alois
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German priest who was executed because his resistance to the Nazi régime in Germany
DATE OF BIRTH=October 24 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH=Kuelsheim
DATE OF DEATH=11 September 1944
PLACE OF DEATH=Berlin