Marcel Callo: A life in faith - hero of resistance and hope

Marcel Callo: A life in faith - hero of resistance and hope

Mauthausen, Österreich - On March 19, 1943, 21-year-old book printer Marcel Callo, born in Rennes, France, had to leave his home. The Nazi regime forced him to work in Germany. This decision changed his life sustainably and caused numerous life plans, as the engagement with Marguerite Derniaux burst. In addition, his family was affected by his sister Marie-Madeleine, who died in an air raid a few days earlier. As kathpress.at , Callo decided despite the opportunity to withdraw, for the mission and saw his forced work as a form of apostolic service. He organized prayer circles and gathered fellow prisoners to services and social activities, which alarmed the Gestapo and ultimately led to his arrest.

On April 19, 1944, Callo was arrested due to his intensive Catholic activities and abducted to various concentration camps, including Flossenbürg and Mauthausen. There he experienced inhumane conditions under extreme stress, worked in an underground work and was finally killed on March 19, 1945, exactly 80 years before the current day of remembrance, heavily drawn by the agony suffered in the Gusen II medical camp. Despite his own suffering, he helped others and considered his faith as a source of his strength. More about this was documented by Heiligenlexikon.de

a legacy of faith

Marcel Callo's life and his heroic courage were held in black and white after the war, and he was particularly known by Pope John Paul II through his beatification on October 4, 1987. Callo remains a symbol of reconciliation and faith both in his homeland in France and Austria. Under the motto "Faith, Work, Resistance", the Diocese of Linz organizes a series of commemorations on the occasion of its 80th anniversary of death that will be celebrated with a service on March 22nd in the Mauthausen concentration camp memorial. These events aim to remember his inspiring and tragic history and to continue to carry his message of hope and faith.