Waldemar Maximilian Nestor

Waldemar Maximilian Nestor (12 December 1888 – 27 July 1941) was the first Roman Catholic priest known to have been murdered in World War II in Yugoslavia.[1]

Waldemar Maximilian Nestor
Parish priest of Drvar
DioceseDiocese of Banja Luka
Orders
Ordination2 February 1917
Personal details
Born(1888-12-12)12 December 1888
Groß Strehlitz, German Empire
Died27 July 1941(1941-07-27) (aged 52)
Trubar (near Bihać), Independent State of Croatia
NationalityGerman
DenominationRoman Catholicism
ParentsAnton and Julija (née Hepner) Nestor

The Holy See started the process of beatification on 21 December 2014 of Nestor and three other priests of the Diocese of Banja Luka who were murdered during the Second World War, Juraj Gospodnetić, Antun Dujlović and Krešimir Barišić.[2]

Life

Waldemar Maximilian Nestor was born in Groß Strehlitz to Anton and Julija (née Hepner) Nestor. His family moved near Banja Luka in Austria-Hungary when his father got a job there as a state forester.[3] Nestor continued his education at the Trappist Mariastern Abbey. He was ordained a priest on 2 February 1917 as a member of the abbey where he served as a teacher in the abbey's elementary school and as a governor of the abbey's resources.

In 1931 he left the Trappist order and joined the diocesan priests after which he was appointed parochial vicar in Ljubunčić.[3] In 1936 he was transferred to Bosanski Petrovac where he was appointed parish priest. As the majority of Catholics of the parish had lived in Drvar, he moved the parish seat there.

Death
See also: Trubar massacre

On 26 July 1941 he went with his parishioners on a pilgrimage to Saint Ann near Knin. On the way back to Drvar on 27 July, at Trubar near Bihać, Serb rebels stopped the train and killed the group.[3] Afterwards, the bodies were tossed into the Golubnjača pit.

Footnotes
  1. Vukšić, Tomo. "Prvi ubijeni svećenik bačen u jamu Golubnjaču". Glas Koncila. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  2. "Pokrenuta beatifikacija četvorice svećenika iz BiH". hrt.hr. Croatian Radio and Television. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  3. Vukšić, Tomo. ""Dan ustanka" - ubojstvo župnika iz Drvara i Bosanskog Grahova". Katolički tjednik. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016.
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