Carmelite Witness to the Truth

Titus Brandsma is best known for courageously speaking out against the ideology of National Socialism and for defending the freedom of the Catholic press to refuse their propaganda. Indeed, it was his activities as a Catholic journalist and on behalf of Catholic journalism that placed him in the crosshairs of the Nazi authorities. But his imprisonment and eventual death in the concentration camp of Dachau was preceded by a notable academic career and a life of tireless service. As Paul Chandler reveals in this ground-breaking volume, the torture and "experiments" that he suffered in the infirmary at Dachau included shocking examples of sexual abuse, according to the infirmary nurse who administered the fatal injection, whose eye-witness account previous biographers have glossed over. For the first time, Chandler provides an English translation of her complete testimony. Additional material reminds us of other major Carmelite "witnesses to truth" during World War II, including St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) and Père Jacques Bunel. All of them show that authentic Carmelite and Christian spirituality is not something abstract and ethereal, but has social consequences, and that mystical prayer must express itself in prophetic words and actions.