Father Hartmann Bottger, a Benedictine monk and priest, has confronted bullies his entire life, including pompous clerics, local thugs, and callous and corrupt French Army occupation authorities in the German Rhineland. But Father Harti faces his greatest challenge with the rise to power of the Nazi Party and the brutality of the dreaded Gestapo. Although the priest initially employs passive resistance to carry out what he perceives to be his mission, he comes to the conclusion that more aggressive—even violent—means are necessary to confront the terror of the SS and the Gestapo. Employing unlikely allies and extraordinary methods, Father Harti sets out to take the fight to his enemies, justifying his actions with St. Augustine’s proverb “Punishment is justice for the unjust.”

(The Humble Courier is temporarily off the market but will return as a second edition with a new publisher in 2024.)