Okopy is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Suchowola, within Sokółka County,

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( pl, Województwo podlaskie, ) is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. The name of the province and its territory correspond to the historic region of Podlachia. The capital and largest cit ...

, in north-eastern Poland.

History

Okopy was a royal village of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, founded in the 16th century. Jerzy Popiełuszko, a Polish Roman Catholic priest, associated with the

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

union, was born in Okopy on September 14, 1947. He was murdered by three agents of the Polish communist internal intelligence agency, the Służba Bezpieczeństwa, (English: Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) who were shortly thereafter tried and convicted of the murder. He has been recognized as a martyr by the Catholic Church, and was beatified on June 6, 2010.Polish priest Father Popieluszko 'martyr' beatified
BBC News (June 6, 2010)

References

Okopy {{Sokółka-geo-stub