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Hermann Scheipers

Hermann Scheipers, Passport photo, ca. 1925
©
Photo: privately owned by Hermann Scheipers

Hermann Scheipers, a Catholic priest, honorary Canon of the Bishopric of Dresden-Meißen, and honorary Papal Prelate, was born on 24th July 1913 in Ochtrup in the region of Westphalia. Following his intervention on behalf of Polish forced labourers he was arrested in 1940 and sent to the Dachau concentration camp. Here he worked tirelessly for his fellow prisoners, above all for the Polish priests. After he escaped from the concentration camp during the so-called death marches in 1945, at the end of the war he fell victim to the second German dictatorship in his role as a chaplain in East Germany. He was responsible for building the first church in the GDR and took an active part at the funeral of Cardinal Stephan Trochta in Czechoslovakia. Here he made the acquaintance of the Bishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyla.

Mediathek Sorted

Media library
  • From childhood days - Hermann Scheipers and his twin sister Anna.
  • The Scheipers family - In Ochtrup.
  • Hermann Scheipers as a Boy Scout -
  • Commemorative card “The first year students at the grammar school in Rheine” - Front.
  • Commemorative card “The first year students at the grammar school in Rheine” - Back with personalised dedication.
  • Old school books are thrown into the River Ems from a bridge in Rheine - Symbolic entry into maturity.
  • Norwegian Cruise, ca. 1936. - The trip cost 45 Reichsmarks. Hermann Scheipers earned this as an assistant to Father Hubert Winckelmann from Greven
  • Hermann and Anna Scheipers -
  • Hermann Scheipers - Profile.
  • Passport photo - Front view.
  • Passport photo - The rear side with dedication, photographer's address and official stamp.
  • Hermann Scheipers in front of his parents’ rented house - Ochtrup.
  • Hermann Scheipers with his sister Anna (left) - In Hubertusburg before October 1940.
  • In his own car - A Brennabor, headquartered in Brandenburg an der Havel.
  • The back of the photo with his own car - With a handwritten remark: “1. car, Brennabor, Battery on the running board”.
  • The Dachau concentration camp - Archway, ca. 1941.
  • Prisoners in Dachau (1) - They most photos probably come from the American authorities.
  • Prisoners in Dachau (2) - They most photos probably come from the American authorities.
  • Prisoners in Dachau (3) - They most probably come from the American authorities.
  • Prisoners in Dachau (4) - They most probably come from the American authorities.
  • Prisoners in Dachau (5) - They most probably come from the American authorities.
  • Prisoners in Dachau (6) - They most photos probably come from the American authorities.
  • Prisoners in Dachau (7) - hey most photos probably come from the American authorities.
  • Prisoners in Dachau (8) - They most photos probably come from the American authorities.
  • Experiments on how the human body reacts to low temperatures - The Dachau concentration camp.
  • Secretly taken photo in a storeroom. - Hermann Scheipers in the concentration camp at Dachau at the end of 1944. Left, Pastor Burkhard (Bishopric of Augsburg); in the middle, Scheipers in a “Zebra” jacket he borrowed from a fellow prisoner; right, Pastor Neunzig (Bishopric of Trier).
  • The rear side of the secretly taken photo - With handwritten remarks by Scheipers
  • Church service for the priests in the Dachau concentration camp -
  • The rear side of the photo of the church service for priests in the Dachau concentration camp - With a handwritten remark by Scheipers: "Church service of the concentration camp priests in Dachau (Most of the prisoners are already wearing suits that have been cut up and sewn over with the X, because by 1944 there were no more prisoner clothes [...]"
  • Death march through Grünewald, 2 - The photo was secretly taken by a citizen of Grünewald.
  • Death march after the evacuation of the Dachau concentration camp at the end of April 1945 - Here, a death march through Grünewald (South of Munich). The photo was secretly taken by a citizen of Grünewald.
  • Passport photo - Hermann Scheipers in April 1945.
  • Personal identity card 1945 - Interior view.
  • Exterior view of Hermann Scheipers' identity card - Issued in Starnberg on the 16th May 1945, with official stamp.
  • At the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Fuchsberg chapel in Schirgiswalde - Hermann Scheipers 1960
  • Hermann Scheipers' trip to Poland -
  • The funeral of Bishop Trochta in Czechoslovakia - Silent sermon by the bishops and cardinals due to the ban on speaking. Fourth from the left in the front row: Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla.
  • Wreath for Bishop Trochta - Hermann Scheipers laid it down at Trochta's grave on behalf of the German Dachau priests.
  • The Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyla - At the funeral of Bishop Trochta in Leitmeritz.
  • Scheipers’ sister Anna - With the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
  • Hermann Scheipers with Volker Schlöndorff -
  • Hermann Scheipers in front of the White House in Washington D.C. - He made the journey at the invitation of the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport.
  • Dir gehört mein Leben (DE) - Die Geschichte von Anna und Hermann Scheipers. Zivilcourage und Gottvertrauen unter zwei Diktaturen - 29 min

    Dir gehört mein Leben (DE)

    Die Geschichte von Anna und Hermann Scheipers. Zivilcourage und Gottvertrauen unter zwei Diktaturen - 29 min
  • I owe you my life (EN) - The story of Anna and Hermann Scheipers. Civil courage and trust in God under two dictatorships - 29 min

    I owe you my life (EN)

    The story of Anna and Hermann Scheipers. Civil courage and trust in God under two dictatorships - 29 min
  • Moje życie należy do ciebie (PL) - Historia Anny i Hermanna Scheipersów. Odwaga cywilna i zaufanie Bogu pod dwiema dyktaturami - 29 min

    Moje życie należy do ciebie (PL)

    Historia Anny i Hermanna Scheipersów. Odwaga cywilna i zaufanie Bogu pod dwiema dyktaturami - 29 min
  • Presentation of the Knights Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland to Hermann Scheipers - Speech of the General Consul of the Republic of Poland in Cologne Jan Sobczak, 26th February 2013 in Ochtrup.
  • The Order is awarded - Presentation of the Knights Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland to Hermann Scheipers
  • From left to right: Consul General Jan Sobczak, Hermann Scheipers, Reverend Josef Wichmann from the St. Lambertus parish in Ochtrup - Hermann Scheipers is decorated with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Cross of Merit on Ribbon) and the Polish Order of Merit.
  • Order and certificate - Certificate signed by the President of the Republic of Poland Bronisław Komorowski.
  • Acknowledgements Hermann Scheipers -
  • Conversation with Jacek Barski - A unique document of contemporary history. A current conversation with Hermann Scheipers in front of the camera (in German).

    Conversation with Jacek Barski

    A unique document of contemporary history. A current conversation with Hermann Scheipers in front of the camera (in German).
  • Stoplerstein für Prälat Hermann Scheipers - Der Stolperstein mit Lebensdaten von Hermann Scheipers wurde am 3. Februar 2018 vor der früheren elterlichen Wohnung in das Pflaster des Bürgersteiges eingesetzt.
  • Gedenktafel für Anna und Hermann Scheipers - Die Gedenktafel erinnert an die besondere Zivilcourage der Zwillinge Anne und Hermann Scheipers.
  • The Grave of Hermann Scheipers in Ochtrup - The Grave of Hermann Scheipers in Ochtrup - Alter Friedhof at the Alte Maate (bottom on the right).
  • The Grave of Hermann Scheipers - The Grave of Hermann Scheipers in Ochtrup (Alter Friedhof in Alte Maate).

Hermann Scheipers
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Pages Pages Full text Full text
Hermann Scheipers, Passport photo, ca. 1925
Hermann Scheipers, Passport photo, ca. 1925
©
Photo: privately owned by Hermann Scheipers

The list of martyred priests compiled by Hermann Scheipers on the basis of his personal memories and research.

On the grounds of their pastoral and humanitarian help to forced labourers the following persons suffered a martyr’s death:

 

Adametzki, Josef (Breslau), died 1944 in Auschwitz

Aeltermann, Johnnes (Danzig), shot 1939 in Danzig

Bioly, Peter (Leitmeritz), gassed 1942 in Hartheim-Dachau

Boehm, Franz (Köln), died 1945 in Dachau

Drosdek, Paul (Breslau), died 1945 in prison in Magdeburg

Drosniak, Peter (Hiltrup – Missionary), died 1945 in Russia

Fränznick, Anton (Freiburg), died 1944 in Dachau

Froehlich, August (Berlin), died 1942 in Dachau

Görsmann, Gustav (Osnabrück), died 1942 in Dachau

Guzy, Johann (Breslau), shot 1945 in Freystadt

Karbaum, Ernst ( Danzig), died 1940 in the Stutthof concentration camp

Koplin, Anizet (O.M.Cap.), murdered 1941 in Auschwitz

Korczok, Anton (Breslau), died 1941 in Dachau

Kremer, Joh.-Leodegar (Pallottine Brother), executed 1944 in Brandenburg-Görden

Lenzel, Josef (Berlin), died 1942 in Dachau

Markötter, Elpidius (Franciscan friar), died 1942 in Dachau

Moritz, Aloys (Ermland), died 1945 in Russia

Olszewski, Leo (Ermland), died 1942 in Dachau

Poether, Bernhard (Münster), died 1942 in Dachau

Richarz, Everhard (Köln), murdered 1941 in Mondorf

Schubert, Augustinus (Augustinus hermit), died 1942 in Dachau

Schwarz, Paul (Ermland), murdered 1945 in Frauwalde

Spix, Alphons (Kloster Arnstein), died 1942 in Dachau

Wessing, August (Münster), died 1945 in Dachau

Witt, Gerhard (Ermland), murdered 1945 in Elbing

Witt, Max (Schneidemühl), died 1942 in Dachau

Willimsky, Albert (Berlin), died 1940 in Sachsenhausen

Zurawski, Alfons (Leutenant), executed 1942 in Brandenburg-Görden

Zuske, Stanislaus (Ermland), gassed 1942 in Hartheim-Dachau

 

Apart from these twenty-nine persons who gave their lives for forced labourers The documentation “Priests under Hitler’s Terror” contains a further 658 names of priests who suffered persecution at the hands of the National Socialists on the grounds of their commitment to forced labourers. Punishments ranged from warnings, via deportation, fines and imprisonment all the way to imprisonment in a concentration camp.

 

Further reading:

Hermann Scheipers, Gratwanderungen, Priester unter zwei Diktaturen, St. Benno-verlag, Leipzig 2013

Halmut Moll (ed.), Zeugen für Christus, Das deutsche Martyrologium de 20. Jahrhunderts, Paderborn, München, Wien, Zürich, 1999

 

Media

Dir gehört mein Leben. Die Geschichte von Anna und Hermann Scheipers. Zivilcourage und Gottesvertrauen unter zwei Diktaturen. A film (ca. 30 minutes.) and an interview with Hermann Scheipers in four sequences (ca. 28 min.) produced by the LWL-Media Centre for Westphalia in Münster, 2011

Hermann Scheipers, conversation with Jacek Barski on 12th May 2015 in Ochtrup, in collaboration with the LWL-Media Centre for Westphalia, Münster

 

Thanks

We should like to thank Benno Hörst from Ochtrup, an elected member of the LWL assembly for putting Prelate Scheipers in contact with the LWL Media Centre and Porta Polonica.

Hermann Scheipers, Passport photo, ca. 1925
©
Photo: privately owned by Hermann Scheipers
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