Born in
Barmbek, Prassek came from a working class Hamburg family, and financially struggled through his studies in theology. Ordained a priest at
Osnabrück in 1937, he became a chaplain at
Lübeck in 1939. A popular pastor, Prassek, impressed his congregation with his sermons, and work with young people. Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime was governing Germany, and in his theological discussion groups, Prassek often openly spoke of irreconcilable contradictions between Catholicism and
Nazi ideology. He also established contact with forced labourers, and learned the
Polish language in order to assist in his ministry work with them. They copied and distributed the anti-Nazi sermons of Bishop
Clemens August von Galen of Münster. ==See also==