function

diocesan priest

creed

Latin (Roman Catholic) Church RCmore on
en.wikipedia.org
[access: 2014.09.21]

diocese / province

Gniezno and Poznań RC archdiocese (aeque principaliter)more on
www.archpoznan.pl
[access: 2012.11.23]

date and place
of death

03.07.1940

KL Sachsenhausenconcentration camp
today: Sachsenhausen‐Oranienburg, Oberhavel dist., Brandenburg state, Germany
more on
en.wikipedia.org
[access: 2018.11.18]

alt. dates and places
of death

02.07.1940

details of death

prisoner camp's numbers

21241Click to display source page (KL SachsenhausenClick to display the description)

cause of death

extermination: exhaustion and starvation

perpetrators

Germans

sites and events

KL SachsenhausenClick to display the description, KL StutthofClick to display the description, ZL NeufahrwasserClick to display the description, DL Ober GruppeClick to display the description, VSH SchwetzClick to display the description, Świecie (Institute)Click to display the description, «Intelligenzaktion»Click to display the description, 02.11.1939 arrests (Inowrocław)Click to display the description, Ribbentrop‐MolotovClick to display the description, Pius XI's encyclicalsClick to display the description, Greater Poland UprisingClick to display the description

date and place
of birth

02.05.1877Birth certification on:
photos.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl
[access: 2025.08.19]

Gnieznotoday: Gniezno urban gm., Gniezno pov., Greater Poland voiv., Poland
more on
en.wikipedia.org
[access: 2021.12.18]

parents

WIERZBICKI Vladislav
🞲 ?, ? — 🕆 ?, ?

KRAKOWSKA Praxedes
🞲 ?, ? — 🕆 ?, ?

presbyter (holy orders)
ordination

25.11.1900

Gnieznotoday: Gniezno urban gm., Gniezno pov., Greater Poland voiv., Poland
more on
en.wikipedia.org
[access: 2021.12.18]

positions held

others related
in death

ADAMCZYKClick to display biography Stanislav, BRZĄKAŁAClick to display biography Victor, BURCZYKClick to display biography Felix, BYTOFClick to display biography Peter, CHARSZEWSKIClick to display biography Paulinus Ignatius, CHYLARECKIClick to display biography Stanislav, CIEMNIAKClick to display biography Louis, CYBULSKIClick to display biography Stanislav, CZAKIClick to display biography Saturnin, CZAPIEWSKIClick to display biography Joseph Leonard, DEMSKIClick to display biography Vladislav, DOERINGClick to display biography Alexander, FIGATClick to display biography Henry, GOŃCZClick to display biography Bernard Ambrose, GORALClick to display biography Vladislav, GRZEBIELEWSKIClick to display biography Joseph, GUZClick to display biography Joseph Adalbert (Fr Innocent), HEVELKEClick to display biography Alexander Eugene John Oscar, HINZClick to display biography Francis Felix, HINZClick to display biography Thaddeus, JARZĘBSKIClick to display biography Stanislav Romualdo, JORDANClick to display biography Boleslav, KALINOWSKIClick to display biography Theodore, KARAMUCKIClick to display biography Edmund Leo, KARCZYŃSKIClick to display biography Cyril Methodius, KAŹMIERCZAKClick to display biography Bronislav Anthony, KLEINClick to display biography John Matthias, KOMPFClick to display biography January Sigismund, KONKOLEWSKIClick to display biography Joachim, KOWNACKIClick to display biography Bronislav, KOZUBEKClick to display biography Roman, KRAUZEClick to display biography Edmund, KRUPIŃSKIClick to display biography Louis, KUBIAKClick to display biography John (Bro. Norbert Mary), KUBICKIClick to display biography Steven Adam Marian, KUBISTAClick to display biography Stanislav, KUPILASClick to display biography Francis, LAPISClick to display biography Casimir, LENARTClick to display biography John, LICZNERSKIClick to display biography Constantine John, ŁOSIŃSKIClick to display biography Bernard Anthony, MACIĄTEKClick to display biography Stanislav Paul, MARCHLEWSKIClick to display biography Leonard, MATUSZEWSKIClick to display biography Francis Adam, MĄKOWSKIClick to display biography John, MĘŻNICKIClick to display biography Joseph, MICHNOWSKIClick to display biography Marian John, MITRĘGAClick to display biography Francis, MORKOWSKIClick to display biography Edmund, MOŚCICKIClick to display biography Joseph, NAGÓRSKIClick to display biography Paul Adalbert, NITSCHMANNClick to display biography Adam Robert, NOWAŃSKIClick to display biography Anthony, NOWICKIClick to display biography Alexander, OCHOŃSKIClick to display biography Charles Joseph (Fr Christianus), OKOŁO–KUŁAKClick to display biography Anthony, PALUCHOWSKIClick to display biography Boleslav, PETRYKOWSKIClick to display biography Steven, PIASZCZYŃSKIClick to display biography Michael, PODLASZEWSKIClick to display biography Francis, POMIANOWSKIClick to display biography Vladislav, RADTKEClick to display biography Steven Boleslav, SĄSAŁAClick to display biography Theodore, SKOBLEWSKIClick to display biography Miechyslav, SKOWRONClick to display biography Casimir, SOCHACZEWSKIClick to display biography Bronislav Peter, SWINARSKI–PORAJClick to display biography Nicholas Ignatius Bogusław, SYNOWIECClick to display biography Boleslav, SZUKALSKIClick to display biography John Wladysław, SZYMAŃSKIClick to display biography Bruno Peter John, ŚLEDZIŃSKIClick to display biography Joseph Marian, TUSZYŃSKIClick to display biography Joseph, TYMIŃSKIClick to display biography Anthony, WAWRZYNOWICZClick to display biography John, WĄSOWICZClick to display biography Sigismund, WIERZCHOWSKIClick to display biography Fabian Sebastian, WILLIMSKYClick to display biography Albert, WŁODARCZYKClick to display biography Ignatius, WOHLFEILClick to display biography Robert, WRÓBLEWSKIClick to display biography Bronislav, ZAWISZAClick to display biography Valentine, ZIELIŃSKIClick to display biography Paul Nicholas, ZIEMSKIClick to display biography Alexander Felix, ZIENKOWSKIClick to display biography Vaclav, ŻUCHOWSKIClick to display biography Vaclav, WINNICKIClick to display biography Paul, FARULEWSKIClick to display biography Thaddeus, GOTOWICZClick to display biography Louis, JAŚKOWSKIClick to display biography Boleslav, KOZŁOWICZClick to display biography Anthony Bernard, KUBICKIClick to display biography Telesphorus, KUBSKIClick to display biography Stanislav, LUDWICZAKClick to display biography Anthony John, ŁÓJClick to display biography John, MULLERClick to display biography Joseph Stanislav Kostka, NIEMIRClick to display biography Joseph, SCHOENBORNClick to display biography Steven Charles Francis, STREHLClick to display biography Miechyslav, TYCZKAClick to display biography Casimir, ZABŁOCKIClick to display biography Matthew George

sites and events
descriptions

KL Sachsenhausen: In Germ. Konzentrationslager (Eng. concentration camp) KL Sachsenhausen, set up in the former Olympic village in 07.1936, hundreds of Polish priests were held in 1940, before being transported to KL Dachau. Some of them perished in KL Sachsenhausen. Murderous medical experiments on prisoners were carried out in the camp. In 1942‐1944 c. 140 prisoners slaved at manufacturing false British pounds, passports, visas, stamps and other documents. Other prisoners also had to do slave work, for Heinkel aircraft manufacturer, AEG and Siemens among others. On average c. 50,000 prisoners were held at any time. Altogether more than 200,000 inmates were in jailed in KL Sachsenhausen and its branched, out of which tens of thousands perished. Prior to Russian arrival mass evacuation was ordered by the Germans and c. 80,000 prisoners were marched west in so‐called „death marches” to other camps, i.e. KL Mauthausen‐Gusen and KL Bergen‐Belsen. The camp got liberated on 22.04.1945. After end of armed hostilities Germans set up there secret camp for German prisoners and „suspicious” Russian soldiers. (more on: en.wikipedia.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2018.11.18])

KL Stutthof: In German Germ. Konzentrationslager (Eng. concentration camp) KL Stutthof (then in Eastern Prussian belonging to Germany, today: Sztutowo village) concentration camp, that Germans started to build on 02.09.1939, a day after German invasion of Poland and start of the World War II, Germans held c. 110,000‐127,000 prisoners from 28 countries, including 49,000 women and children. C. 65,000 victims were murdered and exterminated. In the period of 25.01‐27.04.1945 in the face of approaching Russian army Germans evacuated the camp. When on 09.05.1945 Russians soldiers entered the camp only 100 prisoners were still there. In an initial period (1939‐1940) Polish Catholic priests from Pomerania were held captive there before being transported to KL Dachau concentration camp. Some of them were murdered in KL Stutthof or vicinity (for instance in Stegna forest). Also later some Catholic priests were held in KL Stutthof. (more on: stutthof.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2018.11.18], en.wikipedia.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2013.07.06])

ZL Neufahrwasser: Germ. Zivilgefangenenlager (Eng. POW camp for civilians) organized by the Germans on the day of the outbreak of the war, on 01.09. 1939, in Gdańsk ‐ Nowy Port (New Port), in former artillery barracks belonging to Poland, for Poles from Pomerania arrested as part of the «Intelligenzaktion» action — extermination of Polish intelligentsia. Prisoners from ZL Neufahrwasser — 2,702 people were identified, but it is estimated that c. 10,000 arrestees passed through the camp — were sent to the KL Stutthof concentration camp or directly to the places of extermination. The camp operated till 01.04.1940 (more on: stutthof.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2013.08.10], ofiaromwojny.republika.plClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2013.12.04])

DL Ober Gruppe: From 10.1939 till c. 04.1940, in the Divine Word Missionaries SVD Congregation's house in Górna Grupa — taken over by the Germans after the suspension of the activities of the Minor Seminary run by the friars, and their internment, and the repurposing of the building for military purposes — the Germans organized a Germ. Durchgangslager (Eng. Transit camp), i.e. DL Ober Gruppe, for Poles, including 95 Polish clergy, from the Świecie, Bydgoszcz, Chełmno, Grudziądz, and Starogard Gdański regions in Pomerania. C. 50 of them — detained as part of the Germ. «Intelligenzaktion» (Eng. „Action Intelligence”), i.e. the extermination of the Polish intelligentsia and leadership classes in Pomerania — perished, a significant number of them murdered at the execution sites in Mniszek‐Grupa. In the same place in 1945 Russians set up a concentration camp for Germans, among whom two priests perished. (more on: pl.wikipedia.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2021.12.19], www.kpbc.ukw.edu.plClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2013.12.27])

VSH Schwetz: German Germ. Volksdeutscher Selbstschutzhaft (Eng. Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz custody) VSH founded in 09.1939 by the genocidal German paramilitary organization Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz in Świecie nad Wisłą. The decision to create Selbstschutz in the Polish lands occupied by German troops was made in Berlin on 08‐10.09.1939 at a conference headed by Reichsführer‐SS Heinrich Himmler (the formal order bears the date 20.09.1939), and the chaotically formed units were directly subordinated to the officers of the genocidal SS organization. The Germans captured Świecie on 03.09.1939. As part of the «Intelligenzaktion», i.e. the extermination of Polish intelligentsia and leadership classes, arrests of local Poles began immediately. The victims were imprisoned and held in terrible conditions in the cells of the court prison in Świecie, empty pavilions of the National Pomeranian Psychiatric Institution (especially after 22.10.1939, when the Germans murdered most of its patients as part of «Aktion T4»), distillery buildings in Luszkówko, prison cells in Nowe nad Wisłą and in the buildings of the Divine Word Missionaries institute in Górna Grupa. They were subjected to torture and harassment. From c. 08‐09.10.1939 mass executions began — the day before the first execution in Świecie, the Germ. Gauleiter (Eng. district governor) of the German National Socialist Party NSDAP in Gdańsk, later the Germ. Reichsstatthalter (Eng. Reich Governor) of the Germ. Reichsgau Danzig–Westpreußen (Eng. Reich District Gdańsk–West Prussia), appeared and called on all local Germans to strictly carry out the orders, adding „even if it meant bathing in blood up to the necks” — i.a. at the Jewish cemetery in Świecie, as well as in the forests near the village of Mniszek and the military training ground in the village of Grupa. Dozens of Catholic priests passed through the prison, of whom c. 50 died: 20 were murdered by the Germans in Mniszek, and the rest perished in German concentration camps. (more on: pl.wikipedia.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2021.12.19])

Świecie (Institute): In the autumn of 1939 Germans— as part of «Aktion T4» program — murdered almost all patients of the National Pomeranian Psychiatric Institute in Świecie. On 15‐21.10.1939 c. 1,000 patients were murdered in the forest by Mniszek village, in groups of 60. Among the victims were 120 children. And hospital’s Polish director, Joseph Bednarz PhD, who stayed with his patients till the end. The victims were pushed — three aside — into specially prepared ditches and shot by the members of the genocidal German SS‐Wachsturmbann „Eimann” unit from machine guns. C. 300 patients were transported to Kocborowo psychiatric hospital and murdered later in Szpęgawsk forest. (more on: ipn.gov.plClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2015.05.09])

«Intelligenzaktion»: German: «Intelligenzaktion» (English: „Intelligence Action”) — a German program of extermination of the Polish elite, mainly the intelligentsia and leadership layers, carried out from the beginning of the occupation in w 09.1939 to 04.1940, mainly in territories directly annexed to Germany, but also in the so‐called Germ. Generalgouvernement (Eng. General Governorate), where it was called «AB‐aktion». In the first phase, immediately after the beginning of the German occupation, during military operations carried out by the Germ. Wehrmacht (Eng. Armed Forces) and the genocidal units of the Germ. Einsatzgruppen (Eng. Operational Groups) of the Germ. Sicherheitspolizei (Eng. Security Police), i.e. SiPo, and Germ. Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers SS (Eng. Security Service of the Reichsführer SS), i.e. SD, organized by the Germ. Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Eng. Reich Main Security Office), i.e. RSHA, which followed the troops, carried out under the Germ. Unternehmen „Tannenberg” (Eng. Operation „Tannenberg”) — based on the so‐called Germ. Sonderfahndungsliste (Eng. Special Wanted Lists), i.e. proscription lists of Poles considered particularly dangerous to the Third Reich, prepared by the Zentralstelle II/P (Polen) unit of the German RSHA. Later, implemented by the German civilian occupation authorities and the genocidal unit of the Germ. Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz (Eng. Ethnic Germans Self‐Defense), whose members were Germ. Volksdeutsche (Eng. Ethnic Germans), i.e. representatives of the German minority in Poland. According to various sources, these lists, at the beginning of 09.1939, could have contained the details of 61,000—88,000 „dangerous” Poles — although these figures cannot be confirmed. In total, during this genocide, c. 50,000 teachers, Catholic priests, representatives of the landed gentry, freelancers, social and political activists, and retired military personnel were systematically and methodically murdered. Another 50,000 were sent to concentration camps, where only a negligible percentage survived. (more on: en.wikipedia.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2014.10.04])

02.11.1939 arrests (Inowrocław): On c. 01.11.1939 Germans „invited” local priests from Inowrocław and vicinity for a meeting on 02.11.1939 to „discuss terms and condition of collaboration with new authorities”. All present — 39 priests — were arrested on the spot and sent to concentration camps and execution sites.

Ribbentrop‐Molotov: Genocidal Russian‐German alliance pact between Russian leader Joseph Stalin and German leader Adolf Hitler signed on 23.08.1939 in Moscow by respective foreign ministers, Mr. Vyacheslav Molotov for Russia and Joachim von Ribbentrop for Germany. The pact sanctioned and was the direct cause of joint Russian and German invasion of Poland and the outbreak of the World War II in 09.1939. In a political sense, the pact was an attempt to restore the status quo ante before 1914, with one exception, namely the „commercial” exchange of the so‐called „Kingdom of Poland”, which in 1914 was part of the Russian Empire, fore Eastern Galicia (today's western Ukraine), in 1914 belonging to the Austro‐Hungarian Empire. Galicia, including Lviv, was to be taken over by the Russians, the „Kingdom of Poland” — under the name of the General Governorate — Germany. The resultant „war was one of the greatest calamities and dramas of humanity in history, for two atheistic and anti‐Christian ideologies — national and international socialism — rejected God and His fifth Decalogue commandment: Thou shall not kill!” (Abp Stanislav Gądecki, 01.09.2019). The decisions taken — backed up by the betrayal of the formal allies of Poland, France and Germany, which on 12.09.1939, at a joint conference in Abbeville, decided not to provide aid to attacked Poland and not to take military action against Germany (a clear breach of treaty obligations with Poland) — were on 28.09.1939 slightly altered and made more precise when a treaty on „German‐Russian boundaries and friendship” was agreed by the same murderous signatories. One of its findings was establishment of spheres of influence in Central and Eastern Europe and in consequence IV partition of Poland. In one of its secret annexes agreed, that: „the Signatories will not tolerate on its respective territories any Polish propaganda that affects the territory of the other Side. On their respective territories they will suppress all such propaganda and inform each other of the measures taken to accomplish it”. The agreements resulted in a series of meeting between two genocidal organization representing both sides — German Gestapo and Russian NKVD when coordination of efforts to exterminate Polish intelligentsia and Polish leading classes (in Germany called «Intelligenzaktion», in Russia took the form of Katyń massacres) where discussed. Resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands of Polish intelligentsia, including thousands of priests presented here, and tens of millions of ordinary people,. The results of this Russian‐German pact lasted till 1989 and are still in evidence even today. (more on: en.wikipedia.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2015.09.30])

Pius XI's encyclicals: Facing the creation of two totalitarian systems in Europe, which seemed to compete with each other, though there were more similarities than contradictions between them, Pope Pius XI issued in 03.1937 (within 5 days) two encyclicals. In the „Mit brennender Sorge” (Eng. „With Burning Concern”) published on 14.03.1938, condemned the national socialism prevailing in Germany. The Pope wrote: „Whoever, following the old Germanic‐pre‐Christian beliefs, puts various impersonal fate in the place of a personal God, denies the wisdom of God and Providence […], whoever exalts earthly values: race or nation, or state, or state system, representatives of state power or other fundamental values of human society, […] and makes them the highest standard of all values, including religious ones, and idolizes them, this one […] is far from true faith in God and from a worldview corresponding to such faith”. On 19.03.1937, published „Divini Redemptoris” (Eng. „Divine Redeemer”), in which criticized Russian communism, dialectical materialism and the class struggle theory. The Pope wrote: „Communism deprives man of freedom, and therefore the spiritual basis of all life norms. It deprives the human person of all his dignity and any moral support with which he could resist the onslaught of blind passions […] This is the new gospel that Bolshevik and godless communism preaches as a message of salvation and redemption of humanity”… Pius XI demanded that the established human law be subjected to the natural law of God , recommended the implementation of the ideal of a Christian state and society, and called on Catholics to resist. Two years later, National Socialist Germany and Communist Russia came together and started World War II. (more on: www.vatican.vaClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2023.05.28], www.vatican.vaClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2023.05.28])

Greater Poland Uprising: Military insurrection of Poles of former German Germ. Posen Provinz (Eng. Poznań province) launched against German Reich in 1918‐1919 — after the abdication on 09.11.1918 of the German Emperor William II Hohenzollern; after the armistice between the Allies and Germany signed on 11.1.1918 in the HQ wagon in Compiègne, the headquarters of Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch — which de facto meant the end of World War I — against the German Weimar Republic, established on the ruins of the German Empire, aiming to incorporate lands captured by Prussia during partitions of Poland in XVIII century into Poland. The Republic of Poland, reborn on 11.11.1918, initially formally included only the so‐called Germ. Königreich Polen (Eng. Kingdom of Poland), i.e. the territory that had been under Russian rule until 1915 and then under the control of Central States (Germany and Austria–Hungary), but did not include the Prussian partition. Started on 27.12.1918 in Poznań and ended on 16.02.1919 with the armistice pact in Trier, forced by the victorious Entente states, which included provisions ordering Germany to cease operations against Poland and, importantly, recognizing the Polish insurgent Greater Poland Army as an allied armed force of the Entente. De facto it turned out to be a Polish victory, confirmed in the main peace treaty after World War I, the Treaty of Versailles of 28.06.1919, which came into force on 10.01.1920 and in which most of the lands of the Prussian partition were recognized as Polish. Many Polish priests took part in the Uprising, both as chaplains of the insurgents units and members and leaders of the Polish agencies and councils set up in the areas covered by the Uprising. In 1939 after German invasion of Poland and start of the World War II those priests were particularly persecuted by the Germans and majority of them were murdered. (more on: en.wikipedia.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2016.08.14])

sources

personal:
www.wtg-gniazdo.orgClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2012.11.23], polacywberlinie.plClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2013.05.19], photos.szukajwarchiwach.gov.plClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2025.08.19]
bibliographical:
„Social Activist Priests in Greater Poland”, collective work, Biographical Dictionary, vol. 4 Ś‐Ż, Gniezno 2009
Arolsen Archives, International Tracing Service (ITS), Bad Arolsen, GermanyClick to display source page
„Shavelings in death camps”, Malak Henry Maria, London, 1961
original images:
www.wbc.poznan.plClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2021.05.06], www.koscielec.plClick to attempt to display webpage
[access: 2014.01.06]