 |
 |
P. José Kentenich, día de su llegado a Dachau Fr. Joseph Kentenich, arrival at Dchau P. Josef Kentenich bei der Ankunft in Dachau |
|
 |
|
En Ennabeuren, camino a Schoenstatt In Ennabeuren, on his way to Schoenstatt In Ennabeuren, einer Station auf dem Weg von Dachau nach Schönstatt |
|
 |
|
Dachau, barracas Dachau, barracks Baracken in Dachau Fotos: Archiv © 2005 |
|
 |
|
Dachau: lugar de horror, lugar de gracias Dachau: place of horror, place of grace Dachau: Ort des Grauens und der Gnade |
|
 |
|
Asemejanos a ti...en Dachau Let us walk like you through life...and Dachau Lass uns gleichen deinem Bild…in Dachau Fotos: POS Fischer © 2005 |
|
 |
|
Vista de Dachau View of Dachau Ein Blick auf Dachau Foto: Archiv © 2005 |
GERMANY, MKF. "Sixty years ago World War II returned to the place where it was unleashed. The Germans were the object of hatred sown by Hitler's madness. When finally the weapons were silenced on the 8th of May, more than seven million Germans had died. The whole world had to lament over more than 50 million victims. In spite of it all, it was also a year of a new beginning in occupied Germany..." That is what is stated in an advance of one of the many documentaries in which during these weeks Germany tries to describe the events of 1945. The commemorative
celebrations about the day of the liberation of Auschwitz tries to understand the incomprehensible; "The great flight", "Thirty Days in Berlin", "Attack in Dresden"are the titles of the movies that show through individual stories the development and the end of World War II in Germany.
On the 6th of April of 1945, a priest, a few months shy of age of sixty, left he concentration camp in Dachau after being a prisoner for more than three years...and sixty years later many people go to Dachau in gratitude for his liberation.
At that time he was one of the many prisoners who was liberated by the Nazi regime during the last weeks of the war, a little before the arrival of the allies. They had to get rid of these witnesses of such an inhuman cruelty. In the "going and coming" of the decisions, some were liberated, others assassinated... Father Kentenich was liberated on April 6, 1945. No one was there to pick him up. He went to Dachau looked for the pastor and spoke with him about how Christians should respond to this terrible
njustice of the concentration camp. They spoke of having Adoration in that place...and of a Schoenstatt Shrine in Dachau.
Heaven is where there is love of God and of fellow man
On April 6, 2005, a pilgrimage to Dachau will depart from Canisiushof, a Schoenstatt center close to Ingolstadt, in gratitude for Father Kentenich's liberation from the concentration camp. It is organized by the Schoenstatt Family of the Diocese of Elchstatt. Perhaps some Schoenstatters from Munich, Regensburg and Augsburg will join them. "It has been sixty years: here we must express our gratitude, here we must come for Father Kentenich", said Sister Elinor. The departure will be shortly before 9:00 a.m. from the Shrine of Ingolstadt. They hope to arrive at Dachau at 11:45 a.m. to pray together and individually in the different outstanding places of the concentration camp. Holy Mass will be celebrated in the Carmelite Chapel at 1:30 p.m.
Dachau, a place of horror and a place of grace. The tension still exists. Whoever arrives at Dachau as a tourist or for reasons of studying history, will only see a place of horror, and possibly they will want to leave as soon as possible...Others come to pray and to encounter God, who has been and is in Dachau; the God that transformed men into saints in this place of horror and of grace. There are men who have said they found heaven in Dachau, by their closeness to Father Kentenich. And not because he did not see the reality of Dachau, but because he showed them how heaven was in their midst. He told them, Heaven is where God and fellow man are loved with all your heart.
In the heart of Father Kentenich and in many others, Mary walked through the streets of Dachau: strong and noble, meek and mild, peace and love be our endeavor. (Heavenwards, p.171).
Not only the pilgrims from Ingolstadt will travel to Dachau to pray and to thank. Many youth who will participate in World Youth Day will go there, as groups of pilgrims from all the world. What do they seek in Dachau? They want to pray, thank, seek strength, and in the midst of the Dachau of today ( a very hard era) to make heaven and the love of God felt.
Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, Texas, USA