Willi Graf
German resistance member (1918–1943)
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Key Takeaways
- Wilhelm "Willi" Graf (2 January 1918 – 12 October 1943) was a German member of the White Rose resistance group in Nazi Germany.
- In 2017, his cause for beatification was opened.
- Early life Willi Graf was born in Kuchenheim near Euskirchen.
- Graf attended school at the Ludwigs gymnasium .
- In 1934, Graf joined the Grauer Orden ("Grey Order"), another Catholic movement which became known for its anti-Nazi rhetoric.
Wilhelm "Willi" Graf (2 January 1918 – 12 October 1943) was a German member of the White Rose resistance group in Nazi Germany. The Catholic Church in Germany included Graf in their list of martyrs of the 20th century. In 2017, his cause for beatification was opened. He was given the title Servant of God, the first step toward possible sainthood.
Early life
Willi Graf was born in Kuchenheim near Euskirchen. In 1922, his family moved to Saarbrücken, where his father ran a wine wholesaler and managed the Johannishof, the second largest banquet hall in the city. Graf attended school at the Ludwigs gymnasium. It was not long before he joined, at the age of eleven, the Bund Neudeutschland, a Catholic youth movement for young men in schools of higher learning, which was banned after Hitler and the Nazis came to power in 1933. In 1934, Graf joined the Grauer Orden ("Grey Order"), another Catholic movement which became known for its anti-Nazi rhetoric. It, too, was banned and for this reason, it formed many splinter youth groups.
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