Franz Jägerstätter was born on May 20, 1907 at St. Radegund in Upper Austria to an Austrian peasant family. In 1936, Franz married Franziska Schwaninger — the personal-religious conversion. The marriage produced three daughters.
During the 1938 Anschluss (Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria), Franz cast the only 'no' vote in his village against the Anschluss.
In February 1943, Franz was called up to the Nazi Wehrmacht. Franz systematically refused to swear the personal oath to Adolf Hitler and to serve in the Wehrmacht — the Catholic-moral conscientious objection.
Arrested and imprisoned at the Berlin-Tegel Prison, Franz underwent the systematic pressure from his Catholic bishop, pastor, and lawyer to take the oath. Franz consistently refused — famously writing: 'I cannot and may not take an oath in favor of a government that is fighting an unjust war.'
On July 6, 1943, Franz was condemned to death by the Reichskriegsgericht (Reich Court-Martial). On August 9, 1943, Franz was beheaded at the Brandenburg-Görden Prison at the age of 36.
Beatified October 26, 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI — the papal recognition of the Catholic conscientious-objection tradition. His story was the subject of Terrence Malick's 2019 film 'A Hidden Life'.