From Pictures to Reality: Finding Fr. Viktor Koch, C.P.
By Katherine Koch
Father Viktor Koch, C.P.
Introduction by Fr. Rob Carbonneau, C.P., Editor
In May 2005, German and Austrian Passionists of the Vice-Province of the Five Wounds, the American relatives of Father Viktor Koch, C.P., (1873-1955), three American Passionists, and the people of Schwarzenfeld, Germany joined together in a series of events to celebrate the holy courage of Father Viktor during the war years (1939-1945). The people of Schwarzenfeld explained to the Koch family their personal memories. Ms. Katherine Koch is writing the life of Father Viktor. The Koch website is www.viktorkoch.com.
Father Viktor was made an honorary citizen of Schwarzenfeld. He died in 1955 and was buried in the monastery cemetery. Father Viktor Koch was a faithful Passionist priest. With a determined spirit he worked hard to establish the German Passionists. In many ways, his spiritual intensity was at the very heart of his character.
--Rob Carbonneau, C.P.
I've never met this solemn-faced ancestor gazing at me from the crinkle-edged, black and white pages of distant history, though after spending two years researching his extraordinary life, I'm convinced that our bond of kinship transcends a common birthplace and family surname. While reading typewritten correspondences my great granduncle composed over seventy years ago, I recognize our unifying character trait whispering beneath his words - in the darkest hours when radiant hopes diminish into a dying spark and insurmountable adversity towers before him, he remains spiritually and emotionally entrenched, incapable of abandoning a cause that must reach fruition. Empowered by unshakable faith and adamant perseverance, Fr. Viktor Koch, C.P., founded three Passionist monasteries during an economic depression, defied Nazi Germany within a miniscule church sacristy, and defended the Bavarian town of Schwarzenfeld as advancing Allied forces threatened retaliation against its innocent population. Sixty years later, his equally determined great grandniece fights a different battle: this obscure literary neophyte is determined to shatter the book publication barrier and reveal Fr. Viktor's untold story.
Last year my father and I visited the Passionist Archives in Union City, New Jersey, where we uncovered a gold mine of information documenting Fr. Viktor's inspiring struggle to establish and protect the Order's German Foundation. In my great granduncle's personal account of his wartime experiences, he refrained from describing the story in its entirety: an admirable penchant for humility prevented him from elaborating upon his own actions during its dramatic twists and turns. If I wish to craft an historically faithful portrayal of this unknown Passionist hero, it's imperative that I venture beyond monochrome photos and personal letters. I must explore the gilded pilgrimage church where he prayed, preached and endured Nazi oppression, and indelibly etch the memory of those surroundings deep within my creative consciousness. I need to hear firsthand accounts from the lips of aging witnesses who remember Fr. Viktor's tenacity and heroism. Finally, I want to absorb the cultural and religious atmosphere of the Bavarian town Fr. Viktor defended long ago, for I suspect that his spiritual imprint lingers there amidst the people who revere their Ehrenbürger, or "honor citizen."
I've never traveled overseas, and I consider the prospect of conducting international research more daunting than confronting the inevitable language barrier. In 2005, the year Schwarzenfeld holds its sixtieth anniversary celebration honoring my Passionist ancestor's bravery during the war, I sense history's forces uniting, opening a unique window of opportunity. Fr. Viktor's magnetic stare haunts my computer desktop; during those times when my courage fails, I focus on those clear, gray-colored eyes and envision the eternally frozen, powerful contours of his face shifting in fluid motion, crinkling into a pastor's compassionate smile. "Have faith!" he reminds me. "Don't worry, God will provide." As my family and I board an airbus carrying us across the Atlantic for the first time in our lives, I leave all doubts and fears behind on familiar shores, and open my mind, heart and soul to adventures awaiting us in a faraway country.
Feed