The 108 Martyrs of World War II, known also as the 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs ( pl, 108 błogosławionych męczenników), were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

s from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Their liturgical

feast A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...

day is 12 June. The 108 were

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

on 13 June 1999 by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland. The group comprises 3 bishops, 79 priests, 7 male

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

, 8 female religious, and 11 lay people. There are two parishes named for the 108 Martyrs of World War II in Powiercie in

Koło County __NOTOC__ Koło County ( pl, powiat kolski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ...

, and in Malbork, Poland.

List of Martyrs

Bishops

Antoni Julian Nowowiejski Antoni Julian Nowowiejski (11 February 1858 – 28 May 1941) was a Polish bishop of Płock (1908–1941), titular archbishop of Silyum, first secretary of Polish Episcopal Conference (1918–1919), honorary citizen of Płock and historian. He ...

(1858–1941 KL Soldau), bishop # Leon Wetmański (1886–1941 KL Soldau), bishop # Władysław Goral (1898–1945 KL Sachsenhausen), bishop

Priests

Adam Bargielski Adam Bargielski (January 7, 1903 – September 8, 1942) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest. He was born in Kalinowo, Łomża County. He died in the Nazi German Dachau concentration camp. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II and is a member of ...

, priest from Myszyniec (1903–1942

KZ Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

) #

Aleksy Sobaszek Aleksy Sobaszek (1895–1942) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest. He died in a Nazi concentration camp. He is one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II who were beatified by Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it ...

, priest (1895–1942 KL Dachau) #

Alfons Maria Mazurek Alfons Maria Mazurek, also known as ''Alfons Maria of the Holy Spirit'' (1891–1944) was a Polish Discalced Carmelite friar and priest. He was shot by the Gestapo. He is one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II. Biography Józef Mazurek was bor ...

, Carmelite

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

, prior, priest (1891–1944, shot by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

) #

Alojzy Liguda Aloysius Liguda (January 23, 1898 – December 8, 1942), was a priest and is venerated as a blessed martyr of the Society Of The Divine Word Missionaries (SVD). Liguda was a chaplain, and teacher. He died at Dachau concentration camp in the ...

, Society of the Divine Word, priest (1898–1942 KL Dachau) #

Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz (July 9, 1882 – May 20, 1942) was a Polish Roman Catholic Franciscan friar and priest. He was arrested on October 10, 1941 and taken to the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, where he died. He is one of the 108 Martyrs ...

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

friar, priest (1882–1942 KL Dachau) # Anicet Kopliński, Capuchin friar of German descent, priest in Warsaw (1875–1941) # Antoni Beszta-Borowski, priest, dean of Bielsk Podlaski (1880–1943, shot near Bielsk Podlaski) # Antoni Leszczewicz, Marian Father, priest (1890–1943, burnt to death in Rosica, Belarus) # Antoni Rewera, priest, dean of the Cathedral Chapter in Sandomierz (1869–1942 KL Dachau) # Antoni Świadek, priest from Bydgoszcz (1909–1945 KL Dachau) # Antoni Zawistowski, priest (1882–1942 KL Dachau) # Bolesław Strzelecki, priest (1896–1941 KL Auschwitz) #

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercis ...

, priest (1889–22 March 1940 KL Stutthof) # Dominik Jędrzejewski, priest (1886–1942 KL Dachau) #

Edward Detkens Edward Detkens (1885–1942) was a Polish and Roman Catholic priest. He was imprisoned in the Nazi Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He is one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II. He is buried at Powązki Cemetery. See also * List of Nazi-Ger ...

, priest (1885–1942 KL Dachau) # Edward Grzymała, priest (1906–1942 KL Dachau) # Emil Szramek, priest (1887–1942 KL Dachau) #

Fidelis Chojnacki Fidelis Chojnacki (1 November 1906 – 9 July 1942) was a Polish Capuchin friar and Roman Catholic priest. He was imprisoned in the Nazi Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He is one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II. Life Blessed Fidelis was t ...

, Capuchin friar, priest (1906–1942, KL Dachau) # Florian Stępniak, Capuchin friar, priest (1912–1942 KL Dachau) # Franciszek Dachtera, priest (1910–23 August 1942 KL Dachau) #

Franciszek Drzewiecki Franciszek () is a masculine given name of Polish origin (female form Franciszka). It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: *Edward Pfeiffer (Franciszek Edward Pfeiffer) (1895–1964), Polish g ...

, Orionine Father, priest (1908–1942 KL Dachau); from Zduny, he was condemned to heavy work in the plantation of Dachau. While he was bending over tilling the soil, he adored the consecrated hosts kept in a small box in front of him. While he was going to the gas chamber, he encouraged his companions, saying "We offer our life for God, for the Church and for our Country". #

Franciszek Rogaczewski Franciszek Rogaczewski (23 December 1892 – 11 January 1940) was a Polish Catholic priest who was arrested by the Nazis and killed at Stutthof concentration camp. He is a martyr of the Roman Catholic church, and was beatified by Pope John Paul ...

, priest from Gdańsk (1892–1940, shot in Stutthof or in Piaśnica, Pomerania) # Franciszek Rosłaniec, priest (1889–1942 KL Dachau) #

Henryk Hlebowicz Henryk Hlebowicz (1904 – November 9, 1941) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest. He was born in Grodno. He served on the faculty of Vilnius University. He was shot at Borisov in Belarus. He is one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II who were be ...

, priest (1904–1941, shot at Borisov in Belarus) #

Henryk Kaczorowski Henryk may refer to: * Henryk (given name) * Henryk, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, a village in south-central Poland * Henryk Glacier, an Antarctic glacier See also

* Henryk Batuta hoax, an internet hoax * Henrykian articles, a Polish constitut ...

, priest from Włocławek (1888–1942) # Henryk Krzysztofik, religious priest (1908–1942 KL Dachau) # Hilary Paweł Januszewski, religious priest (1907–1945 KL Dachau) # Jan Antonin Bajewski, Conventual Franciscan friar, priest (1915–1941 KL Auschwitz); of Niepokalanow. These were the closest collaborators of

St Maximilian Kolbe Maximilian Maria Kolbe (born Raymund Kolbe; pl, Maksymilian Maria Kolbe; 1894–1941) was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the German death camp ...

in the fight for God's cause and together suffered and helped each other spiritually in their offering their lives at Auschwitz # Jan Franciszek Czartoryski, Dominican friar, priest (1897–1944) # Jan Nepomucen Chrzan, priest (1885–1942 KL Dachau) # Jerzy Kaszyra, Marian Father, priest (1910–1943, burnt to death in Rosica, Belarus) # Józef Achilles Puchała, Franciscan friar, priest (1911–1943, killed near Iwieniec, Belarus) # Józef Cebula, Missionary Oblate, priest (23 March 1902 – 9 May 1941 KL Mauthausen) # Józef Czempiel, priest (1883–1942 KL Mauthausen) # Józef Innocenty Guz, Franciscan friar, priest (1890–1940 KL Sachsenhausen) #

Józef Jankowski Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

Pallotine The Pallottines officially named the Society of the Catholic Apostolate ( la, Societas Apostolatus Catholici), abbreviated SAC is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for men in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman C ...

, priest (1910 born in

Czyczkowy Czyczkowy ( csb, Czëczkòwë) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brusy, within Chojnice County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Brusy, north-east of Chojnice, and south-west of ...

near Brusy,

Kashubia pl, Kaszuby , native_name_lang = csb, de, csb , settlement_type = Historical region , anthem = Zemia Rodnô , image_map = Kashubians in Poland.png , image_flag ...

(died 16 October 1941 in KL Auschwitz beaten by a

kapo A kapo or prisoner functionary (german: Funktionshäftling) was a prisoner in a Nazi camp who was assigned by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) guards to supervise forced labor or carry out administrative tasks. Also called "prisoner self-administrat ...

) # Józef Kowalski,

Salesian , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...

, priest (1911–1942) Kowalski2

# Józef Kurzawa, priest (1910–1940) # Józef Kut, priest (1905–1942 KL Dachau) #

Józef Pawłowski Józef Pawłowski (born 29 August 1990) is a Polish actor. He has appeared in more than ten films since 2011. Biography Józef is the grandson of Jerzy Pawlowski and actress Teresa Szmigielówny. His older brother, Stefan, is also an actor. Sel ...

, priest (1890–9 January 1942 KL Dachau) # Józef Stanek, Pallottine, priest (1916–23 September 1944, murdered in Warsaw) # Józef Straszewski, priest (1885–1942 KL Dachau) # Karol Herman Stępień, Franciscan friar, priest (1910–1943, killed near Iwieniec, Belarus) # Kazimierz Gostyński, priest (1884–1942 KL Dachau) # Kazimierz Grelewski, priest (1907–1942 KL Dachau) # Kazimierz Sykulski, priest (1882–1942 KL Auschwitz) # Krystyn Gondek, Franciscan friar, priest (1909–1942 KL Dachau) # Leon Nowakowski, priest (1913–1939) # Ludwik Mzyk, Society of the Divine Word, priest (1905–1940) # Ludwik Pius Bartosik, Conventual Franciscan friar, priest (1909–1941 KL Auschwitz); of Niepokalanow. These were the closest collaborators of St Maximilian Kolbe in the fight for God's cause and together suffered and helped each other spiritually in their offering their lives at Auschwitz # Ludwik Roch Gietyngier, priest from Częstochowa (1904–1941 KL Dachau) # Maksymilian Binkiewicz, priest (1913–24 July 1942, beaten, died in KL Dachau) # Marian Gorecki, priest (1903–22 March 1940 KL Stutthof) # Marian Konopiński, Capuchin friar, priest (1907–1 January 1943 KL Dachau) # Marian Skrzypczak, priest (1909–1939 shot in Plonkowo) # Michał Oziębłowski, priest (1900–1942 KL Dachau) # Michał Piaszczyński, priest (1885–1940 KL Sachsenhausen) # Michał Woźniak, priest (1875–1942 KL Dachau) # Mieczysław Bohatkiewicz, priest (1904–4 March 1942, shot in Berezwecz) # Narcyz Putz, priest (1877–1942 KL Dachau) # Narcyz Turchan, priest (1879–1942 KL Dachau) #

Piotr Edward Dankowski Piotr Edward Dańkowski (born June 21, 1908, in Jordanów, died on April 3, 1942, in Auschwitz) is a Polish Catholic saint who is one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II beatified by Pope John Paul II. He is the patron saint of clerics and pries ...

, priest (1908–3 April 1942 KL Auschwitz) #

Roman Archutowski Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, priest (1882–1943 KL Majdanek) # Roman Sitko, priest (1880–1942 KL Auschwitz) # Stanisław Kubista, Society of the Divine Word, priest (1898–1940 KL Sachsenhausen) # Stanisław Kubski, priest (1876–1942, prisoner in KL Dachau, killed in Hartheim near Linz) #

Stanisław Mysakowski Stanislav and variants may refer to: People * Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, C ...

, priest (1896–1942 KL Dachau) # Stanisław Pyrtek, priest (1913–4 March 1942, shot in Berezwecz) # Stefan Grelewski, priest (1899–1941 KL Dachau) # Wincenty Matuszewski, priest (1869–1940) # Władysław Błądziński, Michaelite, priest (1908–1944, KL Gross-Rosen) # Władysław Demski, priest (1884–28 May 1940, KL Sachsenhausen) # Władysław Maćkowiak, priest (1910–4 March 1942 shot in Berezwecz) # Władysław Mączkowski, priest (1911–20 August 1942 KL Dachau) # Władysław Miegoń, priest, commander lieutenant (1892–1942 KL Dachau) # Włodzimierz Laskowski, priest (1886–1940 KL Gusen) # Wojciech Nierychlewski, religious, priest (1903–1942, KL Auschwitz) # Zygmunt Pisarski, priest (1902–1943) # Zygmunt Sajna, priest (1897–1940, shot at Palmiry, near Warsaw)

Religious brothers

# Brunon Zembol, friar (1905–1942 KL Dachau) # Grzegorz Bolesław Frąckowiak, Society of the Divine Word friar (1911–1943, guillotined in Dresden) # Józef Zapłata, friar (1904–1945 KL Dachau) # Marcin Oprządek, friar (1884–1942 KL Dachau) # Piotr Bonifacy Żukowski, friar (1913–1942 KL Auschwitz) # Stanisław Tymoteusz Trojanowski, friar (1908–1942 KL Auschwitz) # Symforian Ducki, friar (1888–1942 KL Auschwitz)

Nuns and religious sisters

# Alicja Maria Jadwiga Kotowska, sister, based on eye-witness reports comforted and huddled with Jewish children before she and the children were executed (1899–1939, executed at Piaśnica, Pomerania) # Ewa Noiszewska, sister (1885–1942, executed at Góra Pietrelewicka near Slonim, Belarus) # Julia Rodzińska, Dominican sister (1899–20 February 1945, KL Stutthof); she died having contracted typhoid serving the Jewish women prisoners in a hut for which she had volunteered. # Katarzyna Celestyna Faron (1913–1944,

KL Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

); (1913–1944), had offered her life for the conversion of an Old Catholic bishop Władysław Faron (no relation). She was arrested by the Gestapo and condemned to Auschwitz camp. She put up heroically with all the abuses of the camp and died on Easter Sunday 1944. The bishop later returned to the Catholic Church). # Maria Antonina Kratochwil, SSND nun (1881–1942) died as a result of the torture she endured while imprisoned in Stanisławów. # Maria Klemensa Staszewska (1890–1943 KL Auschwitz) # Marta Wołowska (1879–1942, executed at Góra Pietrelewicka near Slonim, Belarus) # Mieczysława Kowalska, sister (1902–1941,

Soldau concentration camp The Soldau concentration camp established by Nazi Germany during World War II was a concentration camp for Polish and Jewish prisoners. It was located in Działdowo (german: Soldau), a town in north-eastern Poland, which after the Nazi-Soviet inva ...

Działdowo Działdowo (german: Soldau) (Old Prussian: Saldawa) is a town in northern Poland with 20,935 inhabitants as of December 2021, the capital of Działdowo County. As part of Masuria, it is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (since 1999), D ...

)

Roman Catholic laity

# Bronisław Kostkowski, alumnus (1915–1942 KL Dachau) # Czesław Jóźwiak (1919–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden) # Edward Kaźmierski (1919–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden) # Edward Klinik (1919–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden) # Franciszek Kęsy (1920–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden) #

Franciszek Stryjas Franciszek () is a masculine given name of Polish origin (female form Franciszka). It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: *Edward Pfeiffer (Franciszek Edward Pfeiffer) (1895–1964), Polish ge ...

(1882–31 July 1944, Kalisz prison) #

Jarogniew Wojciechowski Jarogniew (german: Karlshof) is a settlement in the administrative district of Gmina Gościno, within Kołobrzeg County __NOTOC__ Kołobrzeg County ( pl, powiat kołobrzeski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) ...

(1922–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden) #

Marianna Biernacka Marianna Biernacka, née Czokało (1888 – 13 July 1943) was a Roman Catholic citizen of Poland, and a victim of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. She is one of the beatified 108 Martyrs of World War II, a group also known as the 108 Bl ...

(1888–13 July 1943), executed instead of her pregnant daughter-in-law Anna, offered her life for her and her unborn grandchild) # Natalia Tułasiewicz (1906–31 March 1945, died in KL Ravensbrück) # Stanisław Starowieyski (1895–13 April 1941 KL Dachau) # Tadeusz Dulny, alumnus (1914–1942 KL Dachau)

References

{{Persecution of Christians Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Polish beatified people Lists of Christian martyrs Victims of human rights abuses Polish civilians killed in World War II 20th-century venerated Christians 1939 deaths Catholic saints and blesseds of the Nazi era