On June 20, 2025, Pope Leo XIV officially recognized the martyrdom of Jesuit Father Victor Dillard, along with 49 other French Catholic resistance figures who had been sent to Germany in 1943 under the Service du Travail Obligatoire (Compulsory Work Service, or STO). These "50 of the STO" will soon be beatified in Paris.

These 50 men were deported to Germany in 1943 as part of the STO. Later, they were arrested for organizing clandestine Catholic chaplaincies, and subsequently deported to concentration camps, where they died in 1944–1945. They are witnesses to a complex chapter in French memory—members of the Christian resistance against Nazism and victims of a little-known religious persecution. Many died due to the consequences of imprisonment. Among them were 33 young laypeople—often members of the JOC (Young Christian Workers) or the Scouts of France—as well as seminarians, religious novices, and a few priests, including one Jesuit: Father Victor Dillard.

A Jesuit Vocation

The life of Father Dillard reads like an epic. He lived through both World Wars, receiving seven commendations for bravery. During WWII, he risked his life out of fidelity to Christ to provide spiritual support to young men forcibly sent to Germany. He is recognized as a member of the Resistance. But he was first and foremost a Jesuit: passionate about educating the youth, engaged with the modern world, and a sharp observer of socio-political dynamics. Above all, he was a man of God—living for Christ and for others.

Born in Blois in 1897 into a large middle-class family fond of music and theatre, Dillard spent his youth in this culturally rich environment. His memory is still alive in Blois today, with a street, a school building, a foundation, and even a postage stamp bearing his name.

Serving the Youth

After WWI, uncertain about his future, Dillard chose the Jesuit vocation over a career in the military. He entered the novitiate in 1919. During his philosophical and theological studies, he taught or served as prefect in various Jesuit colleges, including twice at the Sainte-Geneviève high school in Versailles. He promoted a new educational style, focused on engaging students through experience rather than mere tradition—sometimes earning misunderstanding from superiors.

He remained close to youth movements throughout his life, especially the JEC (Young Christian Students) and later the JOC (Young Christian Workers), both major Catholic Action movements. He studied theology partly in Austria and was ordained a priest in Blois in 1931. Curious and committed, he traveled frequently for study, including to England and Germany, with a strong awareness of social issues. He completed further studies in law and political economy, writing a thesis in 1942 on “The Evolution of Currency in France.”

From 1937, he worked with Jesuits in Action Populaire, promoting Catholic Social Teaching. He published many articles and traveled to Ireland and the U.S., where he met President Roosevelt and his family.

During WWII, he served as a military chaplain with the rank of captain and was taken prisoner in June 1940. In the POW camp, he organized retreats and even a “social week.” He later escaped during a transfer to Germany and spent three years in Vichy, working with other Jesuits to support the spiritual and intellectual life of officials, refugees, and youth movements like the JEC, JOC, and Scouts.

“I Offer My Life for the Church and the Working Class”

Because of his outspoken views, friction with the Vichy regime, and Gestapo surveillance, he left the city in August 1943. Faithful to the young workers of the JOC and unwilling to abandon those conscripted into the STO, he volunteered to go to Germany. Disguised as an electrician and father of a family, he arrived in Wuppertal (in the Ruhr region) in October 1943.

Just two months later, a Nazi directive banned all chaplaincy activity among French workers. The JOC and Scouts were particularly targeted. The goal was to impose the swastika in place of the cross of Christ.

Fr. Dillard was arrested in April 1944 and imprisoned. In late November, he was deported to Dachau concentration camp, where he was welcomed and supported by fellow Jesuits like Jacques Sommet and Michel Riquet, as well as the layman Edmond Michelet, who would assist him in his final days.

Father Dillard died of sepsis on January 12, 1944, at the age of 47—only six weeks after his arrival at Dachau. In this place of extreme dehumanization, his humility and self-sacrifice left a deep impression on fellow prisoners.

Just days before his death, he said:
“I offer my life for the Church and for the working class.”
It was the ultimate act of love and solidarity with those to whom he was sent—and whom he loved in the name of Christ.