Ludwik Mzyk (22 April 1905 – 20 February 1940) a priest of the

Society of the Divine Word The Society of the Divine Word (), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men. As of 2020, i ...

(SVD) and one of the

108 Blessed Polish Martyrs The 108 Martyrs of World War II, known also as the 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs (), were Catholics from Poland killed during World War II by Nazi Germany. Their liturgical feast day is 12 June. The 108 were beatified on 13 June 1999 by Pope John P ...

beatified 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 ...

on 13 June 1999 by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in Warsaw, Poland.

Life

He was born to a mining and deeply religious family in Chorzów. Ludwik was an altar boy from a young age. In September 1918, he entered the minor seminary of the Divine Word Missionaries at the Holy Cross House in Nysa. His father died when Ludwik was still at Holy Cross. In order to help his mother financially Ludwik, together with his brother, worked in a mine during his summer holidays."Blessed Fr. Ludwik Mzyk SVD", SVD Curia
/ref> In 1926, he entered St. Augustin novitiate near Bonn, and professed his religious vows in 1928. He then completed his theological studies in Rome, where, on 30 October 1932, he was ordained a priest. In 1935, he graduated with a degree of theology and was sent back to Chorzow to be novice master at the SVD mission house. When the war was about to begin, he encouraged the youth about spirituality and selfless dedication to Christ. In 1939, he was made rector. The Gestapo invaded Poland and on 25 January 1940 Mzyk was arrested. On 1 February he was interned at Cell 60 in Fort VII (makeshift concentration camp) in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. On the night of 20 February 1940 Mzyk was beaten and then dragged outside the fort, where he was shot in the head by Junior Officer Dibus.Huener, Jonathan. ''The Polish Catholic Church under German Occupation'', Indiana University Press, 2021, p. 95
(Dibus would be later killed by a distant relative of Mzyk who joined with the Americans in attacking Berlin.) His body was never recovered and thought to be dumped in an unmarked mass grave.

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mzyk, Ludwik 1905 births 1940 deaths Polish beatified people 20th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests 20th-century venerated Christians Polish civilians killed in World War II People from Chorzów Polish people executed in Nazi concentration camps People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs Clergy from the Province of Silesia Executed people from Silesian Voivodeship Catholic saints and blesseds of the Nazi era Roman Catholic priests executed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi Germany occupation forces