Christ in Dachau by Fr. John Lenz was first published in German in the mid-1950’s. It is a deeply moving account of the years that Fr. Lenz spent in a concentration camp in Bavaria from 1940 to 1945. Certainly the most striking aspect of his account is the fact that atheists of all backgrounds—criminals, socialists, communists, and SS agents—joined forces in Dachau to persecute Catholics priests in particular.

The subtitle of Fr. Lenz’s book is Christ Victorious because despite the horrendous conditions and treatment received from their oppressors, the 2,400 Catholic priests interned in Dachau remained spiritually undefeated to the end. About one thousand priests did perish in what Fr. Lenz calls “the greatest martyrdom of priests in the history of the Church.” Christ won a great victory in Dachau, because the horrors were only half the story. Those priests who embraced the cross, Fr. Lenz declares, witnessed Our Lord’s triumph over the “powers of Hell.”

As we face a world today where many of us will suffer for standing up for Christ’s Church, let us be inspired by the amazing faith of the priests of Dachau. Share this story with your friends and relatives and be strengthened by Fr. Lenz’s words—“I never ceased to thank God for my suffering, and this more than anything helped me to bear the Cross.”

Hardcover, 328 pp.