Combatant Catholic Priest

[Panzer Bob]

Hello, all!

I normally don't post here, since I don't generally collect ephemera and I'm also researching for a book on a topic that ties into this thread (Panzeraufklärer--read on!), but a recent "death card" on German Ebay caught my eye. Besides, with Christmas around the corner, I may be getting a bit sentimental...

It is for for Father Alois Dobler. Ordained in August 1937, he joined the German Army in September 1939. He became a motorcycle infantryman (Kradschütze) and fought in France and the Soviet Union, where he was killed on 25 September 1941. He was a recipient of the Iron Cross, Second Class, and the Infantry Assault Badge in Silver (although it should have been bronze, but these obituraries are never 100% accurate, so who knows what it actually was?).

Although I saw chaplains on active duty in the US Army who wore combat awards, it was always to those who became chaplains AFTER they had done tours as regular enlisted men or officers. Here, it is the reverse. Very interesting in my mind...

Regards to all and have a wonderful Christmas!

Bob Edwards

[JUNGCO]

He probably didn't volunteer. By a secret pact between Hilter and the Pope, all the monasteries were emptied of their military aged members and churches of their "extra" priests and drafted. Hitler would then allow the Catholic church to continue to exist and not be destroyed like the Jewish faith. However, a priest who did not tow the line and preached against the Nazis were often sent to a concentration camp. Those monks or priests that weren't chaplains were forbidden to preach or hold services and later were forbidden to be awarded medals. Of course, in many cases, on the lower level of commands, these individuals were valued by rank and file. All monks and priests were also only to be used as medics but this didn't happen either. Which of these men became chaplains? That's another story!
Jeff