Dr. Josef Patsch CSsR

Josef Patsch was born in Graf in the municipality of Grins near Landeck, the son of Alois Patsch. Nothing is known about his childhood and youth. After his A-levels, he joins the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) and takes his vows on August 15, 1903. He studies theology, graduates in 1909 and is ordained a priest in the same year and is subsequently active in the Redemptorist monastery in Mautern.

There, Josef Patsch also witnessed the invasion of the German Wehrmacht on March 12, 1938. He was able to evade the "vote" on April 10, 1938, which had been declared unfree by the National Socialists, with the help of an excuse. On 7 July 1938, he gave a sermon in which he criticized the marriage law introduced by the National Socialists. As a result, he was reported to the police for this "hate sermon" and arrested by the Gestapo on July 23, 1938. In the meantime, the SA searched the monastery. He remained in custody in Graz until July 31, 1938. He was then released and continued to be active in Mautern.

When he gave a sermon in Vienna on October 10, 1942 about the value and beauty of virginity, he was reported to the police by a nurse who felt insulted. Josef Patsch was then summoned to the Gestapo in Linz, but the charges were dropped.