Dilger Alfred & Luise

Dilger, Rev. Alfred Dilger, Luise The house of the parish priest Alfred Dilger at Cannstatt was the secret meeting place of the Bruderrat (fraternal council) of the Confessing Church in Württemberg, an informal organization of parish priests dedicated to helping people persecuted by the Nazi regime. Sometime in the fall of 1943, the Bruderrat – which included, besides Dilger, figures such as Theodor Dipper and Otto Mörike* – decided to reply with a resounding “Yes” to the request of their counterparts in Berlin to provide refuge to Jews on the run. Dilger himself, though a World War I invalid (he had had his leg amputated), was a central linchpin of this secret network. When the Jewish couple Krakauer, using the name Ackermann, called on the Dilgers on October 11, 1943, they were warmly welcomed. Nobody resided in the house at the time except for the parish priest and his wife. The children were away because of the air raids. In order to avoid suspicion, the Krakauers were presented to the curious neighbors as residents of Berlin who had lost everything in an air raid and were now taking a short vacation. During the Krakauers’ five-week stay, Dilger was warned by the Stuttgart prelate, who inspected Cannstatt, that he should not count on the support of the church authorities in case of discovery. Dilger replied that in this case he was placing himself under “a higher protection” than that of the church authorities. On November 5, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Reverend Alfred Dilger and his wife Luise as Righteous Among the Nations.