Fr. Richard Henkes, S.A.C., A Picture of His Life A Picture of His Life | Page 13

lies over their lost loved ones and worried about those missing. At the
beginning of April 1943, the small congregation had already mourned
24 dead and 54 missing.
On the Feast of the Epiphany, Fr. Henkes went with joy to every
homestead and house to bless the people, meeting with them in their
own place. In his presbytery, he cultivated a hospitality which was
particularly good for the Pallottines who met there regularly. They
discussed the political situation, exchanged news, smoked and drank
in cheerful company.
This was not the case on Palm Sunday in 1943. The confreres felt
that something had changed in Fr. Henkes - he looked depressed. He
was to speak there on the Monday of Holy Week before a gathering
of priests, and the attendees waited anxiously. The rector of the church
came from the sacristy, announcing: “The priest who is to speak here
today is unavailable.”
With that, they all knew: Fr. Henkes had been arrested.
In March 1943 he had given a sermon in Branitz where a spy was
present. He was interrogated but not immediately held. On April 8,
he was summoned to Ratibor and was arrested, though the authorities
referred to his detainment as “protective custody.” It is said that Fr.
Henkes had collapsed during his arrest and cried like a child; however,
we do not know the exact circumstances. His time of intense waiting,
with the constant question “When will they get me?” was over in just
one moment.
Richard Henkes hoped that the detention would pass quickly. Still,
in Dachau, he saw a kind of preparation for the afterlife in all the
deprivation, humiliation and sacrifice. But for him the time of im-
prisonment was a time of reaping from all that came before. His life
experience, spirituality, and struggle with God gave him great support
during the time of his imprisonment between April 8, 1943 and Feb-
ruary 22, 1945.
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