Franz actually recalled this dream in an essay he wrote in 1942 titled “On Today’s Issue: Catholic or National Socialist.” The train symbolized the NS movement, with the Hitler Youth giving their souls to a cause that would lead to their death. Suddenly, a voice professes that the train is going to Hell. According to his biographer, Franz questioned his faith while working in the iron ore industry between 19, but returned “ a stronger believer than ever” with continuously-growing faith following his marriage to Franciska, a devout Catholic.Īt one point in the film, Franz recalls a dream about an idyllic train overflowing with kids as it swerves through the mountains. Franz was also allegedly part of a gang enmeshed in various brawls against the Heimwehr, a group of men that aimed to preserve order after WWI. While the film only shows Fani’s three daughters, Franz had previously fathered another daughter out of wedlock with a maidservant called Theresia Auerand. ![]() It appears that before his marriage to Franciska, our devout martyr was a hell-raising young man as well as a reputable womanizer. Motorcycle getaways weren’t really a thing back in rural Austria in the 30’s, so it appears Franz was ahead of his time in more ways than one. After their marriage sometime around 1936, Franz and Franziska traveled all the way to and from Rome to receive a papal blessing in a motorcycle journey equal parts pilgrimage and honeymoon. According to sources, Franz used money earned in Styrian ore mining to invest in what would be the first motorcycle in his village, a purchase that caused quite a stir. The truth is, the scenes of Franz whipping past expansive wheat fields in a motorcycle don’t stretch too far from reality. There’s something about a Harley Davidson amid cattle, the occasional donkey, and pre-war Austrian hinterlands that creates some sort of categorical turmoil. YouTube Icon YouTube Icon Did Franz really own a motorcycle? Before his execution on August 9th 1943, he wrote that “neither prison, nor chains, nor sentence of death, can rob a man of the Faith and his free will.” He declared his refusal to fight when he was summoned back to the Linz barracks in 1943, where he was held in custody, transferred to Berlin-Tegel to await trial, and condemned to death for sedition.įranz thought participating in something so evil would be more enslaving than having chains binding his hands. During his military training in 1940, he notices the evil underlying the Nazi regime and arrives home dead-set on refusing to fight for the army in the future. In the film, Franz enjoys rural life with his wife and their daughters after Hitler’s annexation of Austria in 1938. Apart from a few stints in mining, he served as a sacristan at his parish, ringing the occasional bell and preparing weddings and funerals for no extra compensation. ![]() ![]() ![]() Radegund, Austria in 1907, was a farmer with a quiet but intense religious conviction. Who was Franz Jagerstatter?įranz Jagerstatter, born in St. Below, we've parsed out what’s fact and what’s fiction in the harrowing tale of Franz’s life. The film is a visual journey, blending vast bucolic scenes of Franz and his family with his somber interior battle against the Nazi regime. Hitting theaters on December 13th, the three hour-long biopic showcases Franz’s life from shortly before he is beckoned for armed service through his execution for refusing to fight for the German military. He now stars in A Hidden Life as Franz Jagerstatter, the forgotten martyr and devout Catholic who saw the evil of Nazi Germany before many else did. August has played several roles across the spectrum of World War II Germany, from a gestapo officer and a hardened NS general to a Jewish concentration camp prisoner incarcerated for forging baptismal certificates. Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life brings together a German-speaking cast, a slew of Oscar buzz, and reintroduces us to the man who brought the browbeat SS-Sturmbannführer from Inglorious Bastards to life-actor August Diehl.
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