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March 2

Engelmar Unzeitig (1911–1945)

missionary priest

A Mariannhill missionary priest born into a Moravian German family, Engelmar Unzeitig was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941 because of his preaching against Nazism.

Biography

In the Dachau concentration camp he cared for the prisoners spiritually, learned Russian to better serve numerous captives and shared his meager food. When a typhus epidemic spread through the countryside, he volunteered to care for the sick, even though he knew the danger. He died infected, after converting his prison into a place of priestly charity.

Practical advice

Address today a need that others avoid out of discomfort or fear, taking the necessary precautions but without abandoning the person.

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