Alois Knecht

Alois servant visits the Jesuit Gymnasium “Stella Matutina” in Feldkirch. After passing Matura, he begins his studies in medicine in Innsbruck, but at the beginning of the First World War he is moved to the K. u.k. Army. He fights at the Isonzo, among other things, and in Italian prisoner of war, from which he is released in 1919. He then begins his theology studies in Innsbruck and becomes a student connection in 1919 Leopoldina Innsbruck recorded. He finishes his studies at the seminary in Brixen and is consecrated to the priest in 1923. After various activities as cooperators (Kaplan) in Vorarlberg, he is appointed parish priest in Meiningen (Bez. Feldkirch/Vbg.).

On 17. September 1939, based on Psalm 67 verses 13 (“Lord, faithful to the peoples who want war”), he maintains an undisturbed sermon and, with the aid of papal statements, condemns all those who always speak of peace, but are secretly to war. He denounces the war as the greatest evil of humanity and quotes Benedikt XV, who calls the First World War as “unprecedented humans‘. According to various denunciations, the NS-district manager Anton Plankensteiner (1890–1969) personally presented the Gestapo with the handwritten remark “Arrest and request according to the Heimtückegesetz“Alois becomes a servant after a unsuccessful search of the house on 10. In October 1939 he was arrested and sent to Bregenzer Prison because he "carried by his sermons restlessness into the people“and thus have passed over to the pulpit paragraph [§ 130a StGB]. In the arrest warrant personally signed by Reinhard Heydrich, head of the SD, there are two other reasons: He said, “the war is playful“and then offered his radio to his Mesner with the remark: “To a Reichmark monthly I don’t let myself lie. ‘

On January 3rd, 1940 he will be moved to Innsbruck, where Provikar Carl Lampert can visit again. Together with 60 other prisoners, he will be on 17. January 1940 in the KZ Sachsenhausen where the prisoners are transferred after 10 days of transport on 27th. Coming to January. Later he meets again with Carl Lampert. From here he will be together with other Catholic priests on the 14th. December 1940 in the KZ Dachau where it must remain until 27 March 1945. Karl Leisner is also transferred to Dachau, who is consecrated here in the camp chapel to the priest. Alois servant works in the so-called plantation, a large herb garden that the SS maintains, where medicinal herbs, spices and vitamin plants are cultivated: “The Dachau herbal garden guarantees purity, authenticity and cleanliness of the goods.“ – so it stands on the labels. Various dismissal requests are unsuccessful – such as by GV Franz Tschann and his brother Fidel, who hoped for the release by the use of the Apostolic Administrator Innsbruck-Feldkirch at the Kreisleitung. In this letter of 29 March 1943, he mentioned, ‘Since my brother has been in custody for 3 1/2 years, it would probably no longer be unreasonable to have an act of grace and to give the old soldier the freedom.‘

Alois servant spends the next years till 27. March 1945 at the Dachau concentration camp.

After the war, he returns to Vorarlberg, becomes pastor in Warth, then on the curse at Bregenz and until his retirement in Hohenweiler. He can hardly bear the public silence over the time of National Socialism. He'd like to talk about the concentration camps, the resistance and the fellow runners, but the post-war society doesn't want to hear about it.

In addition, he must be told from ecclesiastical circles, his lack of wisdom has brought him to the concentration camp. This deeply hurts him and the apparent meaninglessness of his martyrdom scares him very much. Nearly a hundred years he dies in his hometown of Rankweil.