brieflynoted
Out and about on campus
Father Zienkiewicz escaped capture and all 120 townspeople survived the Holocaust. Inexplicably, on July 31 of that year, the sisters were id you know that 11 religious of the Sisters of the Holy summoned to the German headquarters in town. Family of Nazareth were among the millions of ChrisSoldiers interrogated the sisters. Then they were driven tians killed during the Holocaust? beyond the town limits into the woods. According to Sister Rita Kathryn Sperka, CSFN, an Instructor of reports, it was a bright evening and people were still workSociology and researcher of the history of the martyrs, ing the fields, so the soldiers returned the sisters to prison. explained the University’s tragic link to the Holocaust They spent hours praying on the dirt floor, until at 4 am, during a presentation at the School of Arts and Sciences soldiers drove them back into the woods and shot them conference “The Global Impact of the Holocaust: 70 Years each in the head as they stood before a common grave. Later” held on campus November 14-15. One of the religious, Sister Margaret, was at work as a Martyred were Sister M. Stella Mardosewicz, Sister nurse in lay clothing, in the local hospital when the sumM. Imelda Zak, Sister M. Kanizja Mackewicz, Sister M. mons was issued. After meeting the 11 sisters on the road, Rajmunda Kukolowicz, Sister M. Daniela Jozwik, Sister she obeyed Sister Stella’s directive to return to the convent M. Kanuta Chrobot, Sister M. Sergia Rapiej, Sister M. to look after the Church and the people. Weeks after the 11 disappeared, S. Margaret and two Gwidona Cierpka, Sister M. Felicyta Borowik, Sister M. women went into the woods pretending to pick mushHeliodora Matuszewska, rooms and searched for signs of a mass grave. They found and Sister M. Boromea THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF THE Narmontowicz. a new mound and a piece of clothing that belonged to one Their execution ocof the sisters. 70 YEARS LATER When the war was over, the bodies were exhumed. curred in the Polish town of Nowogrodek, located in Most of the sisters were found with their hands clasped as current-day Belarus. At the if in prayer. One of the sisters was in a kneeling position, invitation of a local bishop, indicating she was buried alive. the sisters settled there in Each year Father Alexander and many of those who 1929 to support the Catholic Church and care for the chil- were spared execution began meeting in August dren and families of the town, according to CSFN history. to honor the memory of the 11 sisters who were killed. The sisters grew close to the townspeople over the Along with Father Alexander, this group initiated efforts years. In 1942 when Nazis invaded Nowogrodek, 60 to have the 11 sisters beatified, which occurred in March townspeople—including two priests—were killed and hun- 2000. Today in Nowogrodek, Belarus, there is a memorial dreds were arrested. The sisters became a crucial spiritual at the gravesite and the remains of the martyrs are held in support to the townspeople. the Church of Transfiguration in that town. –Naomi Hall The Gestapo ordered 120 townspeople executed in 1943. The sisters prayed that the townspeople would be spared and prayed that their lives would be sacrificed in place of the townspeople if needed. Not long thereafter, the local German commander rescinded the Gestapo execution order, and the prisoners were commuted to concentration camps. Some were even released. Then, the Gestapo sought to execute the town’s sole remaining Catholic priest, Father Alexander Zienkiewicz. Again the sisters prayed for his release and asked that their lives be sacrificed in his place if required.
Exploring Holy Family’s Connection to the Holocaust
D
HOLOCAUST
A painting located in nearby Nazareth Academy depicts the execution of 11 Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth during World War II.
8
SPRING 2010
holyfamily.edu/ia/magazine