# Josef Lenzel

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Josef_Lenzel
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Josef_Lenzel.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Lenzel
> Source revision: 1335476886
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Josef Lenzel** (21 April 1890 – 3 July 1942) was a German Roman Catholic priest active in resistance movement against the [National Socialism](/source/Nazism), who died in the [Dachau concentration camp](/source/Dachau_concentration_camp) where he had been sent as a result of his work with [Polish forced labourers](/source/Forced_labor_in_Germany).

## Biography

Lenzel was born in 1891 in Breslau (now [Wrocław](/source/Wroc%C5%82aw)) in [Prussian Silesia](/source/Prussian_Silesia). In 1911, he started his theological studies at the University in Breslau, and was ordained as a priest on 3 June 1915 in Breslau Cathedral. He became a vicar in Wołów immediately after this, and in 1916 became a vicar in Berlin-Pankow. In 1929, he became a rector, then a titulary provost of St Mary Magdalene's parish in Berlin-Niederschönhausen. During the Second World War, he helped Polish obligatory workers in his parish; his help was viewed unkindly by local Nazi authorities. In January 1942, during his preparations for a mass for maltreated Poles, he was arrested by the [Gestapo](/source/Gestapo) and then sent to the Dachau concentration camp. He died there on 3 July 1942 from ill-treatment and exhaustion.[1]

## Memorials

- Commemorative plaque in a crypt of [St. Hedwig's Cathedral](/source/St._Hedwig's_Cathedral),
- Commemorative plaque on a symbolic tomb in memorial of Josef Lenzel, in front of St Mary Magdalene's parish in Berlin-Niederschönhausen
- Street named *Pfarrer-Lenzel-Straße* in [Berlin-Pankow](/source/Berlin-Pankow_(electoral_district)).

## Bibliography

- Helmut Moll, Ursula Pruss, *Pfarrer Josef Lenzel. In: Zeugen für Christus*. Das deutsche Martyrologium des 20. Jahrhunderts. von im Auftrag der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz. site 101–104. Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 1999
- Heinz Kühn, *Blutzeugen des Bistums Berlin. Klausener, Lichtenberg, Lampert, Lorenz, Simoleit, Mandrella, Hirsch, Wachsmann, Metzger, Schäfer, Willimsky, Lenzel, Froehlich.* Morus-Verlag, Berlin 1952

## External links

- [Website of Diocese of Münster: Josef Lenzel's biography](http://kirchensite.de/index.php?myELEMENT=95546) (German)
- [Website of Archidiocese of Berlin: Reminiscence of priest Josef Lenzel as a victim of nazism](https://web.archive.org/web/20120330111537/http://www.erzbistumberlin.de/erzbistum/das-erzbistum-im-ueberblick/geschichte/opfer-der-gewaltherrschaft) (German)

## References

1. [Archives of Archidiocese of Berlin: *Biographical note for Josef Lenzel*](http://www.dioezesanarchiv-berlin.de/best%20V-084.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120331104912/http://www.dioezesanarchiv-berlin.de/best%20V-084.html) 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine (German)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Josef Lenzel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Lenzel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Lenzel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.