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Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau

Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau
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Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau

 
 
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     In May 1941, Fr. Jean Bernard was arrested for denouncing the Nazis and imprisoned in Dachau's "Priest Block," a barracks that housed more than 3,000 clergy (the vast majority Roman Catholic priests).
     Priestblock 25487 tells the gripping true story of one remarkable priest's survival amid the inhuman brutality and torture of a Nazi concentration camp.
     In 2004, this important book was made into the award-winning film The Ninth Day. Introduction by Robert Royal. Preface by Cardinal O'Malley of Boston.

Praise for Priestblock 25487
''Stunning... Casts light into dark and previously neglected corners of the horror that was the Third Reich.''
–Richard John Neuhaus

''Fr. Jean Bernard's portrait of survival in a German concentration camp is simple, forceful and vivid and therefore impossible to put down or forget. Priestblock 25487 is a diary of Catholic discipleship under extreme conditions that ranks with the great 20th Century personal testimonies against totalitarian violence.''
–Archbishop Chaput

''Many hundreds of books have been written about German concentration and extermination camps. Of these, Priestblock 25487 is among the very best. Every scholar and student of that dreadful chapter of 20th-century history ought to read and ponder its contents.''
–John Lukacs, author The Hitler of History; and Five Days in London: May 1940

''From the opening scene in a Nazi interrogation room, Priestblock 25487 moves with page-turning urgency as it brings to life a side of history that is too often forgotten. I highly recommend this powerful and inspiring book.''
–Thomas E. Woods, author How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization

''In its understated power, this brief book is unforgettable.''
–Michael Novak

''Important... luminous... Moves the reader to compassion and insight.''
–Rachelle Linner, Catholic News Service

''Deeply moving... The suffering of these priests for the sake of the loving God is one of the modern age's glorious mysteries.''
–Fr. George Rutler

''I found this compelling book hard to stop reading.''
–Tim Johnson, Today's Catholic

''Riveting... an important primary source for historians.''
–John Burger, National Catholic Register

''Absorbing... Beautifully written.''
–Erin Ryan, National Catholic Reporter

''A gripping story of heroism and horror that must never be forgotten.''
First Things

''Should be treated as a meditation, even something to be read again and again... So profound it deserves a wide readership.''
–Barbara Stinson Lee, Intermountain Catholic

''A must-read for Catholics. Provides fresh anecdotal insight into the Vatican's battle against the Nazis... As this first-hand account shows in riveting detail, the mere rumor of clerical opposition on the outside sufficed to intensify suffering on the inside.''
–Daniel Cole, The Wanderer

''A gripping testimony of the brutal treatment Catholic clergy received at the hands of the Nazis.''
–William Donohue
, President, Catholic League

''It is dramatic. It is brutally honest. I loved the book and could not put it down.''
–Teresa Tomeo, Ave Maria Radio

''I began reading this book on Friday night and finished the 175 pages in three hours. It was a book I could not put down or stop reading.''
–Rev. Steve Wood, St. John's Evangelical Church


Product Details
Author:Jean Bernard
Paperback:197 pages
Publisher:Zaccheus Press
Publication Date:November 05, 2007
Language:English
ISBN:0972598170
Product Width:0.0 inches
Product Height:0.0 inches
Package Length:7.3 inches
Package Width:5.0 inches
Package Height:0.7 inches
Package Weight:0.45 pounds
Average Customer Rating: based on 20 reviews

Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:5.0
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

5Never had an idea  Aug 12, 2010
Never had an idea that so many priests were sent to the concentration camps. I knew about St. Maximilian Kolbe and Auschwitz, but never the story of the thousands at Dachau. What these priests went through is unimaginable and beyond tragic. It is amazing the torture and beatings that the human body can endure.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

5Compelling--scary--and you can't put it down  May 13, 2010
Dachau. Even the word sends chills.

In this fascinating book about one of the 3,000 Catholic priests who were sent there, Bernard writes about a place where every moment was fraught with the threat of violence.

"One prisoner chokes out of nervousness and falls behind. In a flash the SS man is on him and slams his fist into the bottom of the cup so violently that the metal rim slices a semi-circle through his lips and cheeks, all the way down to the bone" (p 34).

Father Jean Bernard was sent to Dachau for denouncing the Nazis.

It is an incredible, riveting story, and Bernard tells it at a snappy pace. There is not one paragraph that drags.

And, although it is certainly a dark book, there are moments of small joy as well. For a time, the priests even are allowed to attend a Mass.

As the year goes on, the priests are given so little food that they are happy "being assigned some task that takes us near the compost heap...you can find a lot of things that are still quite edible" (p 123). They fall on bits of boiled bones thrown out from the dog kennels.

I will not give away the ending, but this is one book you will not want to miss.




2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

5Outstanding work  Apr 17, 2010
Really great work...Fr. Bernard is compelling and brings his narrative to life in excellent prose...maybe one of the best Holocaust narratives I have read. I love his introduction, where he asks God to forgive those who caused his suffering...truly a man for others...

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

5Priestblock 25487:A Memoir of Dachau.  Jan 19, 2010
Priestblock 25487:A Memoir of Dachau is an Gripping True story, The book tells of the horrors experienced By Roman Catholic Priest Father Jean Bernard who was arrested and sent to a concentration camp along with thousands of others who were priests or who were Catholic,As Well as Protestants. Very Sad and Gripping book. Even though Catholics were a Small Number, They were Persecuted and some killed. Hitler and his Nazi's Just like the Communists Hated The Church. I Highly Recommend this book.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

5Painfully Uplifting  Jan 16, 2010
"Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau" is the autobiographical writing of Father Jean Bernard, a Roman Catholic priest from Luxembourg describing his experiences while interred at the notorious Nazi German concentration camp. The book is structured in a diary-like form (though actually written some years after his release) and gives the reader an inside look at an often forgotten chapter of Nazi German history; its systematic attempts to undermine and crush the Catholic Christian Church, through the imprisonment, degradation, torture, and murder of thousands of Her priests and religious sisters.

This book is simply incredible... and painfully so. It highlights--though I imagine not intentionally --the heroic virtue and fidelity of a number of Catholic priests who sought to be Christ to each other and even to their captors as they were put through horrible physical and psychological conditions that are beyond one's imagination. Especially for a Catholic, one cannot help be near ashamed at our own cavalier disposition to our regular reception of the Eucharist when Father Bernard describes the "indescribable joy" he and his fellow priests experienced as they consumed a particle of Host which had been smuggled into them.

It is often difficult to offer criticism of an autobiographical writing, as one expects it to be subjective. But the author himself seems to be painstaking in presenting an objective description of what happened, permitting the reader to experience the emotion which he dared not display. One is truly taken by the lack of malice towards his captors, and deep empathy and sacrificial friendship towards his fellow prisoners. One thing I found a bit disconcerting, which perhaps says more about me than the writer, is that Father Bernard could share in a sentence or two about having to go without any food to speak of for days on end, while also being on "snow detail" in sub-freezing temperatures with no shirt or shoes; it can be easy for the reader to breeze over this, without actually imagining how torturous it would be for any of us to do such a thing for more than five minutes, let alone eight hours at a time.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to better understand what it means to be a person of faith even in unthinkable circumstances--an obscure and unknown saint simply living out one's vocation. I especially feel that those in the priesthood will find this story truly edifying and encouraging as they attempt to live out their own "white martyrdom" in their vocation.

Other works the reader may find of interest:

The Ninth Day (A film adaptation of Priestblock 25487)
Edith Stein: A Biography/the Untold Story of the Philosopher and Mystic Who Lost Her Life in the Death Camps of Auschwitz
Forget Not Love: The Passion of Maximilian Kolbe

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