Augustin Rösch was a German Jesuit, Provincial, resistance fighter against National Socialism. He had contacts to the circle of conspirators against Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 of the July 20, 1944 and contributed to Catholic resistance against the Nazi regime.

Life

Rösch entered the Jesuit order at the age of 18. During World War I, he was drafted into the army and fought at Verdun

Verdun

Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...

. He was ordained as a priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 in 1925. Together with Otto Faller

Otto Faller

Rev.Otto Faller SJ was Provincial Superior of the Jesuit order in Germany, educator, teacher and Dean at Stella Matutina in Feldkirch, Austria and Kolleg St. Blasien in Germany, professor of patristic studies at the Gregorian University. He was life-long editor of the works of St. Ambrose...

, he headed the Stella Matutina (Jesuit School)

Stella Matutina (Jesuit school)

Stella Matutina in Feldkirch, Austria, was a Jesuit school from 1651–1773 and from 1856-1979.- Short history:The “Kolleg” began in 1649 but opened formally in 1651. In 1773, when Pope Clement XIV discontinued the order of the Society of Jesus, the school closed...

 in various leadership positions from 1925 until 1935. In 1935 he was named Jesuit Provincial, a post which he occupied to the end of "the Third Reich" in 1945. He appointed Alfred Delp

Alfred Delp

Alfred Delp was a German Jesuit priest who was executed for his resistance to the Nazi régime in Germany.- Early life and education :...

 to be his representative at the resistance meetings.

After the failed coup against Hitler, he went into hiding in a farm. He was found, arrested, tortured and brought to the Dachau concentration camp. Sent to interrogation to Berlin, he was freed in light of the advancing Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

of the Soviet Union. After the war until his death, he was heading the Bavarian Caritas from 1947-1961.

Sources

• Augustin Rösch, Roman Bleistein (Hg.): Kampf gegen den Nationalsozialismus, 1985, ISBN 3-7820-0516-3
• Hans Niedermayer: Augustin Rösch: ein Mann des Widerstands im Dritten Reich. Jahresbericht Dom-Gymnasium, Freising, 1994/95, S. 8-24
• Roman Bleistein: Augustin Rösch. Leben im Widerstand. Biographie und Dokumente. Frankfurt a. Main 1998, in: Theologische Literaturzeitung, Ausgabe 125, 2000 S. 182-184, ISBN 3-7820-0794-8