Besides marking the anniversary of Nagasaki's victims, the service also recalled the execution of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter in 1943 for refusing to serve in Hitler's army, and included prayers for all conscientious objectors and those who work for peace.

Organised by Pax Christi, the service was attended by Christians of many denominations as well as representatives from the Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu communities.

Jagerstatter was beatified in October 2007. There were prayers, reflections and readings from some of his letters.

Another World War Two conscientious objector was also remembered at the service.

Josef Mayr-Nusser (27 December 1910 - 24 February 1945) was an Italian Roman Catholic who served as the President of the Saint Vincent de Paul Conference of the Bolzano division as well as a member of Catholic Action.

He is known best for refusing to recite the Hitler oath after he was drafted as a Nazi soldier and was sentenced to death at the Dachau concentration camp; he died en route to the camp in 1945.

Pope Francis approved his beatification on 8 July 2016 and he will be beatified in Bolzano on 18 March 2017.

The service was followed by the Peace Walk from Westminster Cathedral to the London Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park.
Source:

• Independent Catholic News
  
• Independent Catholic News
• Image: Pixabay

At some point, however, the refugees no longer knew what to do next. Where would they be safe? How were the Nazis attempting to find them? There was no refugee center, no leadership, no organization and exasperatingly little reliable information. But what did exist was the art of improvisation and the helpfulness of many Danes, who now had a chance to prove themselves.

Members of the Danish underground movement emerged who could tell the Jews who was to be trusted. There were police officers who not only looked the other way when the refugees turned up in groups, but also warned them about Nazi checkpoints. And there were skippers who were willing to take the refugees across the Baltic Sea to Sweden in their fishing cutters, boats and sailboats.

A Small Country With a Big Heart

Denmark in October 1943 was a small country with a big heart. It had been under Nazi occupation for three-and-a-half years. And although Denmark was too small to have defended itself militarily, it also refused to be subjugated by the Nazis. The Danes negotiated a privileged status that even enabled them to retain their own government. They assessed their options realistically, but they also set limits on how far they were willing to go to cooperate with the Germans.

The small country defended its democracy, while Germany, a large, warmongering country under Hitler, was satisfied with controlling the country from afar and, from then on, viewed Denmark as a "model protectorate." That was the situation until the summer of 1943, when strikes and acts of sabotage began to cause unrest. This prompted the Germans to threaten Denmark with court martials and, in late August, to declare martial law. The Danish government resigned in protest. Continue reading

Sources

• Spiegel Online
• Image: The Jewish Daily Forward