Fr. Richard Henkes, S.A.C., A Picture of His Life A Picture of His Life | Page 34

Epilogue
Even the memory of Fr. Henkes had a difficult road to take.
Through bribery of the guards with food and tobacco, Fr. Henkes
was burned individually in the Crematorium of Dachau and his ashes
were recovered. Then the ashes came through Freising to Limburg,
where they are still kept at the Pallottine cemetery.
Requiem and funeral took place on June 7, 1945, exactly 20 years
after his first Mass. The sermon was given by Fr. Josef Fischer, who
had also been a prisoner in Dachau. He praised the life of Fr. Henkes
as a “sacrifice for Christ” and emphasized his devotion to the Virgin
Mary. But it is striking that the voluntary service of Fr. Henkes in Ac-
cess Block 17 was not mentioned—not even on the tombstones of the
Pallottines, who honored their confreres especially for their courage
in the education of youth. The funeral image of the family in Ruppach
outlines his activities as a priest and his free and intrepid sermons.
Then follows a sentence, from which deeper faith speaks in the midst
of grief: “For God, however, his work until now was enough.” In the
chapel of the cemetery of Ruppach, a memorial was erected to com-
memorate the son of the parish.
Then the memory of Fr. Henkes rested. His community members
in the East were scattered by expulsion. The Pallottines were taken
over by the reconstruction of the province and the difficulties with
and/or separation from Schönstatt.
On the other hand, people who were concerned with the priest-
ly fate of Dachau pointed to Fr. Henkes. In 1982, the “Dachauer
KZ-Priestergemeinschaft” prompted his beatification. In 1988 Prof.
Georg Reitor presented a small note, in which he praised his former
teacher in Katscher: “Beliefs in the Concentration Camp. Fr. Richard
Henkes - Martyr of Charity.” In 1991 a Czech translation appeared.
In the meantime, a “Richard Henkes Circle of Friends” had also
formed, which was headed by Fr. Wilhelm Schützeichel. Fr. Ludwig
Münz (Provincial of the Community in Limburg, then Rector Gen-
eral in Rome), who like Fr. Henkes came from Ruppach, collected
28