Franz Jägerstätter, 36, Austrian farmer and conscientious objector, was executed by the Germans.
Born into poverty and illegitimacy, he was the son of a farmer and chambermaid who could not afford to marry. He was initially raised by his grandmother, the pious Elisabeth Huber. His father was killed in World War One and his mother latter married Heinrich Jägerstätter, who adopted him and who gave him his farm upon his marriage.
Irreligious in his youth, he underwent a sudden religious conversion after fathering an illegitimate child and spending a period of time in community exile, during which he worked for several years in iron mines. Upon returning he became profoundly religions and in turn married a deeply religious spouse. Upon the German invasion of Austria he openly opposed the Nazis and while he did serve in the German Army in 1940 he refused to take the Hitler oath. Called back into service in 1943 he refused combat duty, although he did offer to serve as a medic, which was ignored. He was ultimately died and executed on this day.
He was beatified in 2007.
From Sarah Sundin's blog:
Today in World War II History—August 9, 1943: 80 Years Ago—Aug. 9, 1943: On New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, US northern and southern landing forces link.
The US signed a military assistance treaty with Ethiopia.
Life Magazine hit the stands with an article on female steelworkers.
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