Passionist International Bulletin

Passionist Life - Witnessesbring the priests food. All the while both priestscontinued as best they could to minister underthe local Nazi occupation. While the monasteryin Schwarzenfeld survived the war intact, boththe Pasing monastery and church, as well as themonastery and church at Maria Schutz, suffereddamage.In April 1945 an end to the war seemed close. Atthat time American troops had just liberatedSchwarzenfeld where they found a mass grave ofpeople recently executed. Erroneously, theAmericans thought that townspeople were theperpetrators and had a connection to the regionalFlossenberg German concentration camp. Atthat moment Father Viktor met with theAmerican commanders and let them know thetruth. Eventually, he succeeded in convincing theAmerican commanders that the citizens ofSchwarzenfeld were innocent of this atrocity.The commander agreed to spare the town underone condition. He ordered Schwarzenfeld's citizensto exhume corpses buried on the town's outskirts,wash them, clothe them in donated garments,construct caskets, and give each victim aproper burial, all in 48 hours. If the townspeoplefailed to achieve this task, he intended to re-issueorders for Schwarzen-eld's destruction. FatherViktor coordinated efforts between theAmericans and German townspeople. Everyman, woman, and child in the town participated,and together they succeeded in completing thismonumental task.recovery. Specifically, Father Viktor began towork with the townspeople. As one lady said:"When my family had no clothing, no food in thehouse, he'd stop by the house with a CARE packageand take care of everything." In addition,since Father Viktor was in Schwarzenfeldthroughout the war years he was able to writeletters vouching for civilians who had been mistakenas Nazis.Father Viktor was made an honorary citizen ofSchwarzenfeld. He died in 1955 and was buriedin the monastery cemetery. Father Viktor Kochwas a faithful Passionist priest. With a determinedspirit he worked hard to establish theGerman Passionists. In many ways, his spiritualintensity was at the very heart of his character.At the seminar on 12 May 2005, Fr. GregorLenzen, VULN Provincial, offered an historicalperspective to the three hundred people whoattended: AAs a priest and religious Fr. Viktordid not think in terms of “friend or enemy”. As aGerman-American and as a member of an internationalreligious community, in which all treateach other as brothers; he was not marked by anyfeelings of nationalism. For him it was peoplewho mattered, and their salvation, which for himoriginated in the Cross of Christ. He had come toimplant this Cross and in so doing became amessenger of peace.This knowledgesaved the townspeoplefrom beingunjustly punished andproved to be first stepin post-World War II38Passionist Monastery Schwarzenfeld. May 15, 2005 Liturgy in honor of Father Viktor Koch (PAUL)l-r. Passionists Fr. Klaus Josef Holzer, Local Superior;VULN Provincial Fr. Gregor Lenzen and Fr. Martin Bialas.