A German priest named Joseph Müller had a great hatred for the Nazis.

A German priest named Joseph Müller had a great hatred for the Nazis.

And Müller had a habit of poking fun at the German regime at the time. On September 6, 1943, he told a joke to someone: “A soldier is dying in bed. Besides him, on the right side, there’s a picture of Hitler. On the left side, a picture of Göring…”

“The soldiers gasps, looks at the photos and says: ‘Now, I can die like Christ!’”

The joke referred to the crucifixion of Christ — Jesus was executed with two criminals by his side. So Müller was implying Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring were common crimimals. The priest was reported to the authorities for this innocent little jest, and promptly arrested for “undermining morale”.

Joseph Müller was executed by guillotine in 1944, for having a sense of humor. He was fairly well-known for his repeated criticism of the Nazi regime, but in the end it was an irreverent joke that did him in. They asked him, shortly before the execution, if he had any final words. Father Joseph spoke: “My heart is full of joy, because now it is going home to the Father. In an hour I shall be home.”