With Bound Hands: A Jesuit in Nazi Germany : The Life and Selected Prison Letters of Alfred Delp

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Summary: From Death to Life
Review: So often tragedy appears to be a failure or defeat in life when in fact it is a beginning of something worthwhile and beautiful. The imprisonment and execution of Alfred Delp, as revealed in his letters and the author’s commentaries in this book exemplify that truth. The reader may find it hard and even tedious to become embroiled in the desperate struggle to hold on to life by a man whose faith in eternity is never questioned. But this microcosm of the lives and suffering shared by millions under the Nazi regime is an example of the eventual futility of evil and should cause us to appreciate more deeply the freedom purchased for us today by those lives. The book is the beautiful fruit grown from the seed of one man’s death. It should be read.

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Summary: A man transformed by the crucible of suffering
Review: With Bound Hands: A Jesuit In Nazi Germany by Mary Frances Coady presents the life and selected letters of Fr. Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest, youth leader, intellectual, and a dedicated resister to the Nazi regime who was taken prisoner and eventually executed by the Nazis. Father Delp's smuggled writings and prayers to friends and family mark a man transformed by the crucible of suffering, and provide a sober view of the depths of human cruelty as well as the struggle to endure. With Bound Hands stands as an enduring testament against the Nazis and their crimes -- and powerful reading for Catholics today.