Father Alexander Dornhof was born in Zug in 1891.
He attended the seminary in Saratov and was ordained in 1917. He returned to Zug where he served from 1918 to 1919. In 1919 he began service in Dehler where he continued until 1923. In 1923 he began service in the parish of Rohleder. On 12 March 1930, he was arrested by the secret police and accused of involvement with a Volga German Catholic priest conspiracy group. On 20 April 1931, he was sentenced to 10 years in work camps. His sentence was converted to a prison term, and he was sent to the Solovetsky Islands. In 1937, he was again accused and following a secret trial, he was convicted on 14 October 1937 and sentenced to death.
He was executed on 1 November 1937 in the prison on the Solovetsky Islands.
- Bosch, Anton. Lebensbilder russlanddeutscher Märtyrer: Bischöfe und Priester (previously posted by the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, North Dakota State University Libraries).
- Dornhof Alexander (wolgadeutsche.ru) {Online]
- Schnurr, Joseph. Die Kirchen und das religiöse Leben der Russlanddeutschen — Katholischer Teil (Stuttgart: Selbstverlag Joseph Schnurr, 1980): 369.
Prison photo of Father Alexander Dornhof.
Source: Die Martyrer.