Franciszek Nogalski (16 January 1911 – 24 October 1939) was a Polish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest and parochial vicar in Raciąż. He was executed by Nazi German occupants during the Rudzki Most massacre. Before his death Nogalski unsuccessfully tried to save other hostages by sacrificing himself. He has been accorded the title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

and he is one of the 122 Polish martyrs of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

whose

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "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 name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

process started in 2003.

Early life

He was born in 1911 in Wąbrzeźno (then

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, present day Poland). He was a son of Franciszek Nogalski, a stonemason, and Wiktoria née Lwandowska. He attended Wąbrzeźno high school where he passed the Baccalaureate Exam (1932). Then he entered Pelplin Higher Priest Seminary where he study philosophy and theology. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

on 11 June 1938. After the ordination he take up ministry as the parochial vicar in Raciąż village near

Tuchola Tuchola (; ) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. The Pomeranian town, which is the seat of Tuchola County, had a population of 13,418 . Geographical location Tuchola lies about north of Bydgoszcz, close to th ...

Death

After the Nazi invasion of Poland Nogalski was arrested and imprisoned. His detention was an element of the Intelligenzaktion in Pomerania (Intelligence Action Pomerania), a part of an overall Intelligenzaktion by Nazi Germany aimed at liquidating the Polish elite – especially Roman Catholic clergy and intelligentsia.Maria Wardzyńska, "Był rok 1939 Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion" (It was the year 1939. German security police operation in Poland. Intelligenzaktion), Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Warszawa, 2009, , pp. 169–170. In Tuchola County German authorities tried to find a convenient pretext to execute the arrested members of the Polish intelligentsia. On the night of 21 October 1939 a barn which belonged to Hugo Fritz – a local ethnic German – was burned to the ground in Piastoszyn village. In the same night shocked Fritz died of a heart attack. It was commonly known that drunken Fritz left a lit cigar in the building. However Nazi authorities accused the local Poles of setting fire to the barn and the "murder" of Fritz. On 24 October 1939 the first group of 45 hostages – among them Nogalski – was taken to the place of execution in the forest near Rudzki Most. The massacre was to be carried out by members of the so-called Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz, a paramilitary organization of ethnic Germans who were previously Polish citizens. Before the execution, local Selbstschutz leader, Kurt Gehrt, made a speech to the Polish hostages. He claimed that "Poles murdered Hugo Fritz, the best German man in the area" and then promised that the hostages would be released if the arsonist identified himself. Hearing this, Nogalski stepped forward and said that he was the one who set fire to the barn. Confused and angry, Gehrt said to his comrades: "This bloody priest is looking for an excuse to save the others. We must hang him!". However, they did not find a suitable tree so they violently beat the priest and then shot him. Nogalski's sacrifice did not stop the massacre. Between 24 October and 10 November 1939 about 335 Poles were executed in Rudzki Most.

Beatification process

Nogalski has been accorded the title of Servant of God. He is currently one of the 122 Polish martyrs of the Second World War who are included in the

process initiated in 1994, whose first beatification session was held in Warsaw on 17 September 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nogalski, Franciszek 1911 births 1939 deaths 20th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests Polish people executed by Nazi Germany Polish Servants of God People from Tuchola County People from Wąbrzeźno Roman Catholic priests executed by Nazi Germany