1902 — 1991
A life dedicated to peace.
A legacy that lives on.
This collection connects his life with books, documents and publicly accessible sources. Explore, read and continue the research.
Explore the collection ↓April 1945. Prisoners are being murdered at Lüttringhausen penitentiary as the war draws to a close. Joseph Rossaint survives. Nine years of imprisonment lie behind him. Ahead is the question of how to live after resistance – and what it costs to remain true to one’s convictions.
Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand ↗1927–1932
As a young chaplain in Oberhausen, he encounters unemployment and hardship. He organises young people, assists those facing persecution and joins the Peace League of German Catholics. His memoirs describe a priest who also seeks dialogue with socialist and communist youth. Christian responsibility, for him, has to be lived.
1933–1935
When the Centre Party supports the Enabling Act, Rossaint resigns. In Düsseldorf he works across ideological boundaries against Nazi preparations for war. In 1935, he and communist youths produce a leaflet opposing the restoration of conscription. This cooperation will later be used against him.
1936–1937
Arrested in 1936, he becomes the principal defendant in the Berlin Catholic Trial of 1937, a case that attracts international attention. On 28 April the People’s Court sentences him to eleven years in a penitentiary. Nazi justice has turned his work with young people into a case of high treason.
1937–1945
Years in Lüttringhausen bring him close to people whose political convictions differ from his own. Shortly before liberation he escapes the murder of prisoners. The solidarity of imprisonment does not simply belong to the past after 1945: it shapes the bonds he refuses to abandon.
After 1945
According to SPIEGEL’s account and the VVN’s remembrance, returning would have required withdrawal from political activity and an end to cooperation with communists. Rossaint refuses. He does not return to regular church service. Yet distance from church leadership does not mean abandoning his faith.
1946–1990
Writer, publisher, organiser and co-founder of the VVN association of Nazi victims: Rossaint campaigns against rearmament, nuclear weapons and emergency legislation. He becomes vice-president of the international resistance federation FIR in 1957 and sole president of the VVN in 1971. His contacts cross Cold War borders. His closeness to communist actors belongs in the historical picture alongside his resistance and requires critical context.
1989–today
He receives the Aachen Peace Prize in 1989 and dies on 16 April 1991. Letters, diaries and memories remain, including in the family archive in Aachen, still awaiting cataloguing. This project aims to connect them with other archival collections and enable further research.
“Inwardly, he consciously remained a priest and lived accordingly.”
War, rearmament and relations between Germany and Russia give Rossaint’s story renewed urgency. His life raises questions: How do we challenge images of the enemy? How do we protect people from violence? How can dialogue and the pursuit of peace remain possible as political camps harden?
Today is not a repetition of the 1930s. Rossaint’s biography offers neither a ready-made answer to current conflicts nor a justification for wars of aggression or authoritarian rule. This archive seeks to make informed discussion possible: about his convictions, their contradictions and our own responsibilities.
Portraits and places of remembrance bring history into view. A television documentary and a later press article offer further perspectives on Joseph Rossaint’s life.
This historical photograph shows Joseph Cornelius Rossaint in later life.
Image source: Konradsblatt / aixpax.de. The source does not name the photographer or date. Published with the family’s permission.
The cover of the 2002 book by Karl Heinz Jahnke and Alexander Rossaint shows a historical courtroom photograph. The book title remains in its original language.
Book image: ISBN.de / VAS. Published with the family’s permission.
The plaque recalls Rossaint’s time as a chaplain and his resistance. Photograph taken on 30 April 2010.
Photo: AntonReiser / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · unmodified.
Installed in 1997, the plaque honours Rossaint’s social commitment and resistance. Photograph taken on 13 July 2026.
Photo: GeorgDerReisende / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · resized, without cropping.
Kaplan Joseph Rossaint
A film by Wilfried Viebahn. The Neue Deutsche Biographie records a WDR broadcast on 12 April 1987; the Archdiocese of Cologne’s media library lists a running time of 48 minutes under reference V607.
Archive reference · no online stream yet
A publicly playable version is not yet available here. The linked catalogue documents the film; it does not contain the video.
Martin Doerry · 25 March 2019
An article about Rossaint’s persecution under National Socialism, his trial and the position of the Catholic Church.
Original article · SPIEGEL+
Published online as “Wie die Nazis einen aufmüpfigen Kaplan ins Zuchthaus brachten”. The full German article requires a SPIEGEL subscription.
Images carry source and rights information. Articles and the film remain with their respective providers; no third-party full texts or film copies are hosted here.
Biographies, archives, books and voices. Each entry links to its source. The collection is gradually expanding.
A concise introduction to his youth work, resistance, persecution and imprisonment, with further reading.
A scholarly reference article with a list of works, bibliography and links to other archives.
Collection record covering, among other subjects, the League of Christian Socialists and the German Peace Academy. A finding aid, not a complete online collection.
The catalogue lists 35 linear metres and describes the collection as not yet processed. Contact the archive about access and use.
Links to letters written by and to Rossaint, and to collection records in the union catalogue.
A biographical index entry linking to mentions in the diary edition. Useful for understanding the church history context.
The association documents Rossaint’s award. The page also links to his acceptance speech and a tribute.
The history of the study group that Joseph Rossaint helped found. An introduction to its current documentation and educational work.
A historical radio feature on Rossaint’s resistance and subsequent political life. The audio remains available from the broadcaster.
A contemporary announcement of the volume edited by Karl Heinz Jahnke and Alexander Rossaint, containing documents, letters and diary entries.
Bibliographic record of the biographical and documentary volume. The catalogue is not a freely available e-book.
Kaplan Dr. Joseph Cornelius Rossaint. This second joint volume is listed in the bibliography of the Neue Deutsche Biographie.
Photograph of the plaque at St Mary’s Church with a historical portrait of Rossaint. The complete image is displayed in this site’s image section.
Photograph of the plaque at Elsa-Brandström-Straße 96, with the photographer’s credit and licence information.
Documentary about Rossaint’s life. The link opens a media catalogue, not a stream. A publicly playable online version has not yet been verified.
Article on Rossaint’s persecution by the Nazis. Online title: “Wie die Nazis einen aufmüpfigen Kaplan ins Zuchthaus brachten”. The complete article is behind the SPIEGEL+ paywall.
Includes Rossaint’s own memoirs from 1982 and Auxiliary Bishop Augustinus Frotz’s obituary (1991). Personal testimonies with named authors, not a neutral overview.
Contemporary coverage of the trial, published on 13 April 1937. This links to the original archive entry; the complete article is not reproduced here.
The online exhibition identifies Rossaint’s trial as a subject of clandestinely distributed camouflaged publications. This establishes their coverage of the trial, not Rossaint’s authorship of every pamphlet shown.
No source found. Try another term or choose “All”.
Curated references · Updated 11 October 2026. A catalogue entry does not mean the work is freely available online. Linked originals generally remain in German.
Dr Alexander Rossaint, Joseph’s nephew, published two books about his life and persecution together with historian Karl Heinz Jahnke.
Karl Heinz Jahnke / Alexander Rossaint
The volume combines an account of his life with a selection of his writings.
Bibliographic record ↗Karl Heinz Jahnke / Alexander Rossaint
Documents, letters and diary entries on the history of the trial and its principal defendant.
Read the book presentation ↗Letters, diaries and personal documents preserve more than dates.
Further papers have survived within the family. This material has not yet been processed. The aim is to examine, describe and, where possible and authorised, make it accessible here.
This project is being developed by Sascha Rossaint, one of Joseph’s great-nephews. It brings scattered sources together and encourages exchange with researchers, archives and anyone interested.
Family papers: cataloguing planned
Would you like to help catalogue, translate or digitise material, or support the archive’s work? Please use the contact form.
Contact the archive ↗A photograph. A letter. A memory.
Or a question about his story.
Please first describe the material briefly and explain where it comes from. Sending material does not automatically grant permission to publish it.
