Maximilian Kaller - After World War II

After World War II

The Polish authorities ruling the former eastern territories of Germany expelled most Germans to Allied-occupied Germany, including Marquardt who had to leave in July. Frauenburg's cathedral chapter then elected the aged Canon Johannes (Jan) Hanowski, a German of Polish ethnicity and long-term archpriest of Allenstein (today's Olsztyn), as capitular vicar, i.e. provisional head of the see, on 28 July 1945.

Kaller, who had stranded by the end of the war in Halle upon Saale, made his 720-kilometre (450 mi)-long way back to his see and arrived in one of the first nights of August 1945 in Allenstein/Olsztyn, taking on the jurisdiction from Hanowski. Kaller started to develop new plans for his diocese especially aiming at overcoming the nationalist antagonism between Catholics of German and Polish language, reshaping the diocese in the spirit of German-Polish reconciliation. He appointed Franciszek Borowiec, his close collaborator, as new vicar general for the Diocesan area under Polish occupation and Paul Hoppe (1900–1988), Königsberg in Prussia (today's Kaliningrad), as vicar general for the diocesan area under Soviet occupation.

Kaller further appointed an ethnic Pole as new cathedral provost, since his predecessor Provost Franz Xaver Sander (also official), and five more fellow cathedral canons had been killed by the invading Soviets. Addressing the Polish authorities in the annexed area of his diocese Kaller declared that he wants to continue his episcopate within Poland, however, the officials said it was neither him nor them, but Warsaw to decide that. Kaller chose four ethnic Poles as canon candidates to replenish the chapter to the end that ethnic Poles and Germans would each have half the seats. With these activities and plans Kaller was unique among the German bishops in the eastern territories.

On 14 August he received a telegramme from August Hlond for the expelled Marquardt. Polish Primate Hlond had invited the vicar general for a meeting on the diocesan future to Pelplin, not knowing that the Polish authorities had expelled him, let alone that the deported Kaller had succeeded to return. A Polish government car was provided and Kaller and Borowiec travelled the next day to Pelplin. When – on coming for the general vicar – the Polish government representatives learned the bishop himself was coming, they sent an advance party to Pelplin in order to inform Hlond.

As Pelplin's Canon and Chancellor Franciszek Kurland recalled, Kaller was not welcomed in priestly fraternity. Difficult enough to urge a general vicar to resign, but the papally invested bishop was another task. In fluent Polish Kaller and Hlond, his chaplain Bolesław Filipiak, his brother Antoni Hlond SDB, Leon Kozłowski (Chełmno's vicar general) and Kurland conversed while taking lunch, discussing the situation. Kaller explained that he wanted to stay with his diocese in Poland and talked about his plans. Hlond replied that Kaller was no Polish citizen and thus unacceptable as bishop in the Polish area, avoiding the term state, since Ermland diocese was only Polish-occupied German territory. Afterwards in a private conversation Hlond urged Kaller to resign and so he did for the jurisdiction in the Polish-occupied diocesan area, but retained the office of Bishop of Ermland, which rather turned quite void, especially since in the Soviet-occupied diocesan area no Catholic ecclesiastical activity whatsoever was tolerated. Later in Poznań Hlond praised Kaller for how he complied with the demanded resignation from jurisdiction.

On his way back, accompanied by Borowiec, Kaller cried and told him that the jurisdiction in the Polish-occupied diocesan area will be passed on to Teodor Bensch, a German-born naturalised Pole, who would arrive within days officiating as apostolic administrator. They returned home in the evening on 16 August. Kaller could not appoint the four new canons for the chapter any more but was expelled the next day, transferred by lorry to Warsaw, accompanied by Borowiec, who also joined him on the train to Poznań on 18 August. Then Borowiec, who had not been expelled, returned to the diocese, while Kaller had to leave via Stettin for Allied-occupied Germany.