You know what, the quotes from his autobiography, Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977 (Ignatius Press, 1998):
"Father had to take a position against the violence of the Nazis. We could very clearly sense the immense anxiety weighing him down, which he could not manage to shake even during ordinary activities... Father thus decided, toward the end of 1932, to change locations once more. In Tittmoning he had simply said too much against the brownshirts. In December, shortly before Christmas, we moved into our new home in Aschau-am-Inn" (12-13)
"We had arrived in December 1932, and already on January 30, 1933, Hindenburg transferred to Hitler the position of chancellor of the Reich, an event that in the language of the Party came immediately to be known as the “seizure of power’—and that is exactly what it was, too. From the first instant power was exercised. I myself have no memory of that rainy day, but my brother and sister have told me that the school had to perform a march through the village that, of course, soon turned into a tramp through the slush that could hardly have fired anyone’s enthusiasm. Nevertheless, there already existed both open and secret Nazis in the village who now saw their hour arrive and, to the terror of many, were bringing their brown uniforms out of the trunk. The “Hitler Youth” and “League of German Girls” were introduced, and my brother and sister were obliged to participate in their activities. It mortified my father to have to work now for a government whose representatives he considered to be criminals, even if local policemen in the village were for the time being, thanks be to God, hardly affected by the changes. As far as I can see, the sole result of the new regime, during the four years we spent here, was the practice of spying and informing on priests who behaved as “enemies of the Reich”. It goes without saying that my father had no part in this. On the contrary, he would warn and aid priests he knew were in danger." (14)
"Because of the considerable physical demands of the profession made on them, policemen in those days were required to retire at age sixty. My father waited impatiently for this day. The frequent night shifts were beginning to get the better of him, but the greater stress came from the political situation within which he had to discharge his responsibilities. He took an extended sick leave, during which he and I would often go hiking and he would tell me stories of his earlier life. Finally, on March 6, 1937, he turned sixty." (21)
"Because of the increasingly worn-down condition of the men in the armed forces, our rulers came up with something new in 1943. They observed that boarding-school students already had to live in community away from their homes and that, therefore, nothing stood in the way of changing the place where they boarded—namely, to the batteries of the anti-aircraft defense (Flak). And since in any event they could not be studying the whole day, it appeared quite normal to engage them in their free time for the service of defense against enemy planes. Even though I had not for quite a while now been in boarding school, still, juridically, I belonged to the minor seminary in Traunstein. So it was that the small group of seminarians from my class (those born in 1926 and 1927) were now drafted, and we had to go to the Flak in Munich. Being all of sixteen years of age, I now had to undertake a very peculiar kind of “boarding-school” existence." (30)
"On September 10, 1944, having reached military age, we were released from the Flak, in which we had actually served as students. When I arrived home, the draft notice of the Reichsarbeitsdienst already lay on the table. On September 20 an endless trip took us to Burgenland, where we (including many friends from the gymnasium at Traunstein) were as- signed to a camp in a spot where three countries—Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary—meet. The weeks spent in the labor detail have left me with oppressive memories. Most of our superiors were former members of the so-called Austrian Legion and thus old Nazis who had done time in prison under Chancellor Dollfu8. They were fanatical ideologues who tyrannized us without respite. One night we were pulled out of bed and gathered together, half asleep in our exercise uniforms. An SS officer had each individual come forward and, by taking advantage of our exhaustion and exposing each of us before the gathered group, attempted to make “voluntary” recruits for the weapons branch of the SS. A whole series of good-natured friends were in this way forced into this criminal group. With a few others I had the good fortune of being able to say that I intended to become a Catholic priest. We were sent out with mockery and verbal abuse. But these insults tasted wonderful because they freed us from the threat of that deceitful “voluntary service” and all its consequences." (32-33)
"At the end of April or the beginning of May—I do not remember precisely—I decided to go home. I knew that the city was surrounded by soldiers who had orders to shoot deserters on the spot. For this reason I used a little-known back road out of town, hoping to get through unmolested. But, as I walked out of a railroad underpass, two soldiers were standing at their posts, and for a moment the situation was extremely critical for me. Thank God that they, too, had had their fill of war and did not want to become murderers. Still, they had to find an excuse to let me go. Because of an injury I had my arm in a sling, and so they said: “Comrade, you are wounded. Move on!” In this way I came home — unhurt." (36)
"The Americans finally arrived in our village. Even though our house lacked all comfort, they chose it as their headquarters. I was identified as a soldier, had to put back on the uniform I had already abandoned, had to raise my hands and join the steadily growing throng of war prisoners whom they were lining up on our meadow... During three days of marching, we advanced on the empty expressway in a column moving toward Bad Aibling that was gradually becoming endless... Then for a few days we lay about in an open field at the military airport of Bad Aibling, until we were shipped off to an area of enormous farmlands near Ulm, where about fifty thousand prisoners had been brought... On June 19, 1945, I had to pass through the various inspections and interrogations, until, overjoyed, I held in my hand the certificate of release that made the end of the war a reality for me, too." (37-39)
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