Kazimierz Wojciechowski, SDB (16 August 1904, in

Jasło Jasło is a county town in south-eastern Poland with 36,641 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2012. It is situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), and it was previously part of Krosno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located in Lesser ...

– 27 June 1941, at Auschwitz) was a Polish Catholic priest, a member of the

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

. He was involved in the education of the youth, and after the

Nazi invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after ...

was arrested 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 or ...

, imprisoned at Montelupich, and subsequently

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was murdered by two

prisoner functionaries 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 ...

the day after arrival.

Life and death

Wojciechowski was born in the southern Polish city of

, some 144 kilometres (90 miles) east of Cracow, one of the three children of Andrzej Wojciechowski, a railway employee, and his wife Marja Wojciechowska (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

'' Boskówna). His father died when Wojciechowski was five-years' old. Owing to the efforts of his mother struggling single-handedly to support the family he was enrolled at the age of 8 at the

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in the late 19th century by Italian priest Saint John Bosco to help poor children du ...

-run boarding school for poor children (the ''Zakład Salezjański im. Lubomirskich w Krakowie'') located in the ulica Rakowicka № 27 in Cracow. At school he was described as a vivacious and content child. In 1916 he entered a similar Silesian institution for older children located at the city of

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; german: Auschwitz ; yi, אָשפּיצין, Oshpitzin) is a city in the Lesser Poland ( pl, Małopolska) province of southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rive ...

(the future site of Auschwitz during the

Second World War 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

) where in 1920 (while in the fourth year of the '' gimnazjum'') he expressed the wish to enter the Salesian

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

in Klecza Dolna. Accepted by the Salesians of Don Bosco, he professed his

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of re ...

on 2 October 1921. Subsequently, he continued his studies at a Salesian academy in Cracow (the '' Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne Towarzystwa Salezjańskiego''), and upon their completion was given a position at a

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and ...

of the Salesians at Ląd in central Poland as an assistant tutor in mathematics and a singing-teacher (see picture to the right). He also taught music and singing at Salesian educational institutes at ,

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 official ...

Aleksandrów Kujawski Aleksandrów Kujawski (until 1879: ''Trojanów'', 1879–1919: ''Aleksandrów Pograniczny'') is a town in north-central Poland, in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is the seat of Aleksandrów County, as well as of Gmina Aleksandrów Kujawski ...

, and in

. He began his theological studies at Cracow in 1930, and upon their completion received holy orders at the hands of Bishop

Stanisław Rospond Stanisław Rospond (December 19, 1906 – October 16, 1982) was a Polish linguist, and professor at the University of Wroclaw A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in ...

(18771958) on 19 May 1935. He then taught for a year at a Salesian minor seminary in near Stryj in Poland (now

Stryi Stryi ( uk, Стрий, ; pl, Stryj) is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine 65 km to the south of Lviv (in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains). It serves as the administrative ce ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

), on his return to Cracow taking on the duties of a

catechist Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

and those of a director of an oratorium and patron of Catholic youth organizations. During the September Campaign Wojciechowski remained in Cracow rendering assistance to persons displaced by the hostilities of war. When the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

allowed the opening of schools in the General Government in November 1939, he returned to his school work. In the evening hours of Friday, 23 May 1941, Wojciechowski together with eleven of his Salesian confrères, including ten priests and one lay friarKornelia Banaś and Adam Dziurok, ''Represje wobec duchowieństwa górnośląskiego w latach 19391956 w dokumentach'',

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most populo ...

, Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, 2003, p. 99. . was arrested by the

at the house in the ulica Konfederacka № 6 in the Dębniki district of Cracow (the site of a Salesian

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

; see picture to the right) and imprisoned in the ulica Montelupich. At the Montelupich Prison Wojciechowski was informed that the reason for his arrest was his educational work fanning the patriotic sentiment among the Polish youth. After a detention of 34 days in duration at Montelupich, Wojciechowski was

on 26 June 1941 to the nearby Auschwitz concentration camp, 66 km (41 miles) away. On arrival at the camp he received the inmate number 17342. The next day, 27 June 1941, Wojciechowski was impressed into a disciplinary work detail, the so-called '' Strafkompanie'' consisting of 12 prisoners engaged in gruelling excavation of the gravel yard that bordered on the concentration camp the now famous historic site known in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

as ''Żwirowisko'' and in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

as ''Kiesplatz''. During the morning shift of that day the supervising ''

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 ...

'' broke Wojciechowski's teeth with a single blow from a shovel handle and separately injured his head with a lash from a

riding crop Riding is a homonym of two distinct English words: From the word ride * In equestrianism, riding a horse * Riding animal, animal bred or trained for riding * Riding hall, building designed for indoor horse riding From Old English ''*þriðing'' ...

. He had apparently attracted the attention of the ''kapo'' by his athletic and muscular build, which incited jealousy. This was also the time frame within which two of Wojciechowski's fellow-Salesians, Ignacy Dobiasz and Jan Świerc, were murdered and removed to crematorium. During the lunch break Wojciechowski was unable to eat on account of the sustained wounds. On the afternoon shift he was beaten again and when he complained he was thrown into a previously excavated gravel pit, told to lie down next to another Salesian friar,

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

(18851941; inmate number 17375), whom he observed lying at the bottom of the pit in a state of unconsciousness, and together with him was suffocated to death by having a single wooden pole thrown across both his and Harazim's necks, which was then weighed down by the bodies of two

a ''kapo'' and a barrack leader (''blockälteste'') who stood on the pole at either end. Wojciechowski was 36-years' old. Kazimierz Wojciechowski is currently one of the 122 Polish martyrs of the Second World War who are included in the

beatification 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 na ...

process initiated in 1994, whose first beatification session was held in Warsaw in 2003 (see '' Słudzy Boży''). A person nominated for beatification receives within the Roman Catholic Church the title of " Servant of God"; once he is actually beatified he is accorded the title of "

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

" and "Blessed", which are a prerequisite for

sainthood In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

conferred in a process known as

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

. In all, over 140 Polish Salesian friars found themselves imprisoned, deported to

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

, or exiled from the country during the Second World War.Waldemar Żurek, "Stulecie salezjańskiego szkolnictwa w Polsce 19002000" (Centenary of the Salesian Educational System in Poland, 19002000), ''Salezjanie Księdza Bosko w Polsce'
(see online).

Bibliography

*Jacek Chrobaczyński, ''Słownik biograficzny nauczycieli w Małopolsce w latach II wojny światowej, 19391945: ofiary wojny, żołnierze, działacze konspiracyjni, nauczyciele w jawnym i tajnym szkolnictwie'', Cracow, Wydawnictwo Naukowe WSP Wyższej Szkoły Pedagogicznej ">Pedagogical University of Cracow">Wyższej Szkoły Pedagogicznej 1995, page 247. . (A biographical dictionary of

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

-region teachers martyred during the

.) *Waldemar Żurek, ''Męczennik Żwirowiska: Sługa Boży ks. Kazimierz Wojciechowski SDB (19041941)'', Cracow, Wydawnictwo Poligrafia Salezjańska, 2005. , . (The title translates as "The Martyr of the Gravel Pit".) *Biography on the ''Biuletyn Informacyjny "Męczennicy"'' of

Pelplin Pelplin (; csb, Pôłplëno; formerly German also: ''Pelplin'') is a town in northern Poland, in the Tczew County, Pomeranian Voivodship. Population: 8,320 (2009). Pelplin is located in the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in Pomerania. It is h ...

br>(see online).

Life and death

Bibliography

See also