Rev. Gabriel Ku
KU TAE-CHUN GABRIEL
[구 대준 가브리엘]
* 27. April 1912 in Seoul (South Korea);
† Todesdatum unbekannt, im Gefängnis P’yŏngyang (North Korea)
Rev. Ku Tae-jun, Gabriel
Priester der Diözese von Hamheung.
Er wurde am 27. April 1912 in Ihwa-dong, Jongro, Seoul, geboren und auf den Namen Petrus getauft. Er war der zweite Sohn von Vater Ku Chong-jing Franciscus, Professor für chinesische Literatur an der Polizeischule, und Mutter Lee Cheongja Maria.
Im Jahr 1922 trat er ins Seminar des Benediktinerklosters von Bek-dong, Seoul, ein.
Im Jahr 1927, da die Abtei nach Tokwon verlegt wurde, setzte er sein Studium dort weiter fort. Da er ruhig und reflektiert war, zeichnete er sich als hervorragender Student der Philosophie und Theologie aus. Er hatte ein Talent für Literatur und wegen seines guten Charakters pflegte er einen freundlichen Umgang mit seinen Kommilitonen.
Am 25. März 1940 wurde er von Abtbischof Bonifatius Sauer in der Abtei von Tokwon zusammen mit Lee Chaechol Petrus zum Priester geweiht.
Nach der Priesterweihe wurde er zum ersten koreanischen praefector des Seminars von Tokwon ernannt und, in dieser Funktion, leitete und erzog er die Studenten zu verantwortlichem und selbstbeherrschtem Handeln.
Im Jahr 1942 wurde er Pfarrer in der Pfarrei von Heungnam und in dieser Zeit besuchte er die Gefangenen der Alliierten und nahm ihnen die Beichte ab.
Er leitete die Schule von Haesung (Stella Maris) und widerstand den Japanern, die sie schließen wollten. Nach der koreanischen Befreiung, wirkte er freiwillig als Pfarrer der Pfarreien von Hoiryeong und Kyerim, weil der frühere Pfarrer von Hoiryeong von den Russen erschossen worden und der Pfarrer von Kyerim gestorben war.
In der Nacht zum 10. Mai 1949, während er sich im Priorat von Wonsan aufhielt, um die jährlichen Exerzitien der Schwester zu leiten, wurde er von der Geheimpolizei festgenommen und in das Gefängnis von Pyeongyang verschleppt.
Rev. Ku Tae-jun und der Abtbischof Bonifatius Sauer waren in der gleichen isolierten Zelle inhaftiert. Am 5. August spendete Rev. Ku dem Abtbischof, der sich in einem kritischen Zustand befand, die Krankensalbung.
Er wurde ein letztes Mal am 5. August 1949 gesehen. Für die Zeit danach haben wir keine Information. Höchstwahrscheinlich wurde er ermordet oder starb in seiner Zelle.
REVEREND GABRIEL KOU
(+14 May 1949)
Reverend Gabriel Kou was born on 25 July 1912 in Seoul. He was ordained a priest on 25 March 1940. For some time he was a prefect in the seminary. By 1948 he is the parish priest in Hungnam. The arrest in December 1948 of Fr. Dagobert Enk as the cellarer in Tokwon caused Fr. Gabriel Frömmer to be transferred from Hoeryong to the abbey to take his place. In the meantime, Father Gabriel was transferred from Hungnam to Hoeryong.1
At the end of April 1949 he traveled to Wonsan to preach the annual retreat to the Korean sisters in the priory. He was arrested in bed during the night of 10–11 May and brought with missionaries and Korean priests of the abbey to Pyongyang.
Father Fabian Damm, the superior of the mission in Wonsan, describes what happened that night:
…We got into the car. Passing by I saw the brightly lit windows of the sisters’ convent and an ambulance parked on the road. The sisters, too, were being invited for a “brief consultation.” Our car stopped – not in front of the police post, for we drove in a different direction all together – but behind the railway station, between two railway tracks. A few steps and we were standing in front of a single railway car, the windows covered with white sheets. “Get in” said the man with the revolver. Then we stood face to face with the brethren from Tokwon. They had arrived half an hour before us. Twenty minutes later the doors opened again. White veils. Our sisters arrived. Whether the Deo gratias with which Mother Prioress greeted us was meant to express the joy about the arrest or the joy and the consolation that they were united with us, we never learned. The doors were opened and closed often that night. Next was the Korean priest, Father Gabriel Kou. A few days before, he had come to us in Wonsan from his station at Hoeryong to give a retreat to the Korean sisters. In the evening I had talked to him suggesting whether it might not be better to interrupt the retreat and go home. But he preferred to stay on. When I was waking up my confreres, I had managed to pass by the door of his room in spite of the one accompanying me––after all he was not a member of my local community – hoping that he might manage to escape. But when they searched the house right after we had left, he was found and was brought along as a fellow prisoner. After a longer interval Abbot-Bishop Boniface, Fr. Prior Lucius, Fr. Subprior Arnulf, Fr. Rupert, who had already been summoned for a “meeting” by the police three days ago, and Fr. Dagobert, whose “meeting” had already lasted for five months, arrived and received a tumultuous welcome from us. They were followed later by Fr. Kunibert and Fr. Knut from Kosan, then Fr. Josef together with catechists from Kowon and Fr. Gregor, a Catholic teacher and the catechist Maria from Yonghung.… 2
Father Gabriel was taken along in the train with the monks and sisters to the prison in Pyongyang.
We can only assume that he suffered the same fate as those remained in the prison.
_____________
1 See Schicksal in Korea; Deutsche Missionare berichten, 2nd ed. (St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 1992), 16.
2 Ibid., 31.
Rev. Ku Tae-jun, Gabriel
Il sacerdote della diocesi Hamheung
Nato il 27 Aprile 1912 a Ihwa-dong, Jongro, Seoul, lui era il secondo figlio di padre, Ku Chong-jin Franciscus, che era professore della letteratura cinese nella scuola dei poliziotti e di madre Lee Cheongja Maria ed è stato battezzato con il nome di Petrus.
Nel 1922 entrò nel seminario del monastero benedettino di Bek-dong, Seoul. Nel 1927 si trasferì a Tokwon con tutta l’Abazia e continuò lo studio. Essendo una persona con poche parole e della profonda riflessione, era studente eccelente in filosofia e teologia. Mostrò il talento speciale nella letteratura e con buon carattere stava armonioso con gli altri.
Il 25 Marzo 1940 è stato ordinato sacerdote con Lee Chaechol Petrus nella chiesa dell’Abazia di Tokwon dal Vescovo abate Bonfatiusa Sauer.
Dopo l’ordinazione sacerdotale è stato nominato il primo praefector coreano del seminario di Tokwon e dirigeva gli studenti perché agissero con responsabilità e autocontrollo.
Nel 1942 diventò il parrocco della parrocchia di Heungnam. In quel tempo visitava gli imprigionati dell’alleato per la confessione.
Continuò a gestire la scuola di Haesung (vuol dire Stella maris) resistendo alla pressione dei giapponesi che volevano chiuderla. Dopo la liberazione coreana, si incaricò volontariamente il parrocco della parrocchia di Hoiryeong e di Kyerim, perchè il parrocco precedente di Hoiryeong, P. W. Farrenkoph è stato ucciso dai sovietici e quello di Kyerim era morto.
Il 10 Maggio 1949 si trovava al priorato di Wonsan per dirigere il ritiro annuale delle suore e in quella notte è stato arrestato dalla polizia segreta e trasportato e imprigionato nella prigione di Pyeongyang.
Rev. Ku Tae-jun era imprigionato con il vescovo abate Bonifatius Sauer nella stessa cella isolata. Circa il 5 Agosto, Rev Ku celebrò il sacramento degli inferi per il vescovo abate che era allo stato critico.
Lui è stato trovato per l’ultima volta il 5 Agosto 1949 e in poi, non abbiamo la sua notizia. Molto probabilemente è stato ucciso o morto nella prigione.
Steckbrief
Todesort: Hamheung
Todesart: „sicher getötet"
