CHRIST IS RISEN ... 1945 IN DACHAU!
by: Gleb. A. Rahr/Prisoner R 64923
Dachau concentration camp, April 27th, 1945: The last transport of
prisoners arrives from Buchenwald. Of the 5,000 orginally destined for
Dachau, I was among the 1,300 who had survived the trip. Many were shot,
some starved to death, while others died of typhus...
April 28th: I and my fellow prisoners can hear the bombardment of Munich
taking place some 30 km from our concentration camp. As the sound of
artillery approaches ever nearer from the west and the north, orders are
given proscribing prisoners from leaving their barracks under any
circumstances. SS-soldiers patrol the camp on motorcycles as machine guns
are directed at us from the watch-towers, which surround the camp.
April 29th: The booming sound of artillery has been joined by the staccato
bursts of machine gun fire. Shells whistle over the camp from all
directions. Suddenly white flags appear on the towers - a sign of hope that
the SS would surrender rather than shoot all prisoners and fight to the
last man. Then, at about 6:00 p.m., a strange sound can be detected
emanating from somewhere near the camp gate which swiftly increases in
volume... Finally all 32,600 prisoners join in the cry as the first
American soldiers appear just behind the wire fence of the camp.
After a short while electric power is turned off, the gates open and the
American GIs make their entrance. As they stare wide-eyed at our lot,
half-starved as we are and suffering from typhus and dysintery, they appear
more like fifteen-year-old boys than battle-weary soldiers...
An international committee of prisoners is formed to take over the
administration of the camp. Food from SS-stores is put at the disposal of
the camp kitchen. A US military unit also contributes some provision,
thereby providing me with my first opportunity to taste American corn. By
order of an American officer radio-receivers are confiscated from
"prominent Nazis" in the town of Dachau and distributed to the various
national groups of prisoners. The news come in: Hitler has committed
suicide, the Russians have taken Berlin, and German troops have surrendered
in the South and in the North. But the fighting still rages in Austria and
Czechoslovakia...
Naturally, I was ever cognizant of the fact that these momentous events
were unfolding during Holy Week. But how could we mark it, other than
through our silent, individual prayers? A fellow-prisoner and chief
interpreter of the International prisoner's committee, Boris F., paid a
visit to my typhus-infested barrack "Block 27" to inform me that efforts
were underway in conjunction with the Yugoslav and Greek National
Prisoner's Committees to arrange an Orthodox service for Easter day, May
6th.
There were Orthodox priests, deacons and a group of monks from Mount Athos
among the prisoners. But there were no vestments, no books whatsoever, no
icons, no candles, no prosphoras, no wine... Efforts to acquire all these
items from the Russian parish in Munich failed, as the Americans just could
not locate anyone from that parish in the devastated city.
Nevertheless, some of the problems could be solved: The approximately 400
Catholic priests detained in Dachau had been allowed to remain together in
one barrack and recite mass every morning before going to work. They
offered us Orthodox the use of their prayer room in "Block 26", which was
just across the road from my own "block". The chapel was bare, save for a
wooden table and a Czestochowa icon of the Theotokos hanging on the wall
above the table - an icon which had originated in Constantinople and was
later brought to Belz in Galicia, where it was subsequently taken from the
Orthodox by a Polish king. When the Russian Army drove Napoleon's troops
from Czestochowa, however, the abbot of the Czestochowa Monastery gave a
copy of the icon to czar Alexander I, who placed it in the Kazan Cathedral
in Saint-Petersburg where it was venerated until the Bolshevik seizure of
power.
A creative solution to the problem of the vestments was also found. New
linen towels were taken from the hospital of our former SS-guards. When
sewn together lengthwise, two towels formed an epitrachilion and when sewn
together at the ends they became an orarion. Red crosses, originally
intended to be worn by the medical personnel of the SS-guards, were put on
the towel-vestments.
On Easter Sunday, May 6th (April 23rd according to the Church calendar), -
which ominously fell that year on Saint George the Victory-Bearer's Day,
Serbs, Greeks and Russians gathered at the Catholic Priests barrack.
Although Russians comprised about 40 percent of the Dachau inmates, only a
few managed to attend the service. By that time "repatriation officers" of
the special "Smersh" units had arrived in Dachau by American military
planes, and begun the process of erecting new lines of barbed wire for the
purpose of isolating Soviet citizens from the rest of the prisoners, which
was the first step in preparing them for their eventual forced
repatriation.
In the entire history of the Orthodox Church there has probably never been
an Easter service like the one at Dachau in 1945. Greek and Serbian priests
together with a Serbian deacon adorned the make-shift "vestments" over
their blue and gray-striped prisoners uniforms. Then they began to chant,
changing from Greek to Slavonic, and then back again to Greek. The Easter
Canon, the Easter Sticheras - everything was recited from memory. The
Gospel - "In the beginning was the Word" - also from memory. And finally,
the Homily of Saint John - also from memory. A young Greek monk from the
Holy Mountain stood up in front of us and recited it with such infestious
enthusiasm that we shall never forget him as long as we live. Saint John
Chrysostomos himself seemed to speak through him to us and to the rest of
the world as well!
Eighteen Orthodox priests and one deacon - most of whom were Serbs,
participated in this unforgettable service. Like the sick man who had been
lowered through the roof of a house and placed in front of the feet of
Christ the Saviour, the Greek Archimandrit Meletios was carried on a
strecher into the chapel, where he remained prostrate for the duration of
the service.
The priests who participated in the 1945 Dachau Easter service are
commemorated at every Divine Service held in the Dachau Russian Orthodox
Memorial Chapel, along with all Orthodox Christians, who lost their lives
"at this place, or at another place of torture" ("na meste sem i v inykh
mestakh mucheniya umuchennykh i ubiennykh").
The Dachau Resurrection-Chapel, which was constructed by a unit of the
Russian Army's Western Group of Forces just before their departure from
Germany in August, 1994, is an exact replica of a North-Russian
"tent-domed" (Shatrovyie) church or chapel. Behind the altar-table of the
chapel is a large icon depicting angels opening the gates of the Dachau
concentration camp and Christ Himself leading the prisoners to freedom.
Today I would like to take the opportunity to ask you, Orthodox Christians
all over the world, to pass on the names of fellow Orthodox who were
imprisoned and died here in Dachau or in other Nazi concentration camps
so that we can include them in our prayers.
Should you ever come to Germany, be sure to visit our Russian Chapel on the
site of the former concentration camp in Dachau and pray for all those who
died "at this place, or at another place of torture".
Khristos voskrese! Christos anesti! Christ is risen!
My thanks go out to Xenia Rahr of Germany for giving me permission to share this story about her father Gleb. It is inspiring and moving. It represents a true Christ-centered faith
amidst great suffering and presecution. She wrote to me saying, " It is indeed very important to remind people that lots of Orthodox suffered by the Nazi regime." May the sufferings of all the holy martyrs bring great consolation to us today and inspire us to bring healing and joy to all those in need of God's mercy and help. Pray for all persecuted Christians throughout the world and all who persecute them. Protect us, save us, have mercy on us, and preserve us, O God, by Your grace. Amen. If you wish to contact Xenia Rahr.
Another Account
"In the open air, behind the shanty, the Orthodox gather together, Greeks and Serbs. In the center, both priests, the Serb and the Greek. They aren't wearing golden vestments. They don't even have cassocks. No tapers, no service books in their hands. But now they don't need external, material lights to hymn the joy. The souls of all are aflame, swimming in light.
Blessed is our God...My little paper-bound New Testament has come into its glory. We chant "Christ is Risen" many times, and its echo reverberates everywhere and sanctifies this place.
Hitler's Germany, the tragic symbol of the world without Christ, no longer exists. And the hymn of the life of faith was going up from all the souls; the life that proceeds bouyantly toward the Crucified One of the verdant hill of Stein."
- Metropolitan Dionysios of Trikkis and Stagon, Martyrs, Damascos Publishers, Athens, 1949
LIST OF ORTHODOX CLERGYMEN DETAINED AT DACHAU
Babich Vilko, priest, born 1910 - survived.
Khadyopoulos Damaskinos, priest, b.1913 - survived
Djorjevich Bronislav, priest, b.1892, Secretary to Patriarch Gavrilo - survived
Galanopoulos Meletios, archimandrit, b.1892 - survived
Doshich Gavrilo, Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, born 1881
arrested May 25th, 1941 in Belgrade, detained at Dachau since September 25th, 1944 to February 1945, when he was taken to Northern Italy with otherVIP-prisoners and inofficially released at the approaching of Allied troops
Jovanovich Milan, priest, b.1909 - survived
Kizdobranski Milan, priest, b.1914 - survived
Maletich Stefan, hegumen, b.1917 - survived
Velimirovich Nikolai, Bishop of Okhrid, born 1874
brought to Dachau September 25th, 1944, in February, 1945, taken with Patriarch Gavrilo to Northern Italy and released.
Petkovich Milan, priest, b.1889; died at Dachau February 2nd, 1945
Stakich Stefan, deacon, b.1919 - survived
Ilyin Dionisiy, priest, b.1882
arrested November 3rd, 1942 at Marianske Lazni (German occupied
Czechoslovakia). In April, 1945, forced to patricipate at the "Evacuation" death march to the Alps region, liberated by Americans April 24th, 1945
Ivanas Vasil, priest, b.1901 arrested May 25th, 1941 in Kanopa, Carpatho-Russia, - survived
Rosokha Tomas, priest, b.1903 Czech from Mukachevo - survived
Vrabec Antonin-Savvatiy, archbishop of the Czech Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Patriarchate, b.1880, arrested May 30th, 1942 in Prague - survived
Stanoylovich Miodrag, priest, b.1908 - survived
Stoyanovich Milutin/Miodrag, priest, b.1907 - survived
Stoyanovich Stoyan, priest, b.1911 - survived
Svitlich Stradinya, priest, b.1912 - survived
Zhiravac Petar, priest, born 1907 - survived
Peteralski Mikhal, priest, b.1920 arrested in Warszawa - survived
-List furnished by Xenia Rahr
Homily of the Elder Dionysios, during the first Divine Liturgy by a Greek priest in the
Russian chapel of Dachau, 5.28.97, Munich.
Пасха в Дахау, 1945 г. Russian article "Pascha in Dachau"
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