The Day of Martyrdom of Polish Clergy During World War II

During the homily at mass today I learned that April 29 is The Day of Martyrdom of Polish Clergy During World War II. This date has special resonance for me as it is both my birthday and the anniversary of the liberation of the Murnau POW camp where my grandfathers were held for most of World War II. I found out that the Dachau concentration camp was also liberated by the Americans on this day in 1945. A total of 2,720 clergy were held at Dachau and of these the overwhelming majority, 1,780, were Poles and 868 of them were killed. Many elderly priests died from exposure to the cold, others were used in cruel medical experiments, yet others were beaten and tortured to death. The Polish priests solemnly vowed that those who survived would make pilgrimages every year to the church of St. Joseph in Kalisz with gratitude for their salvation.  The freed priests from Poland fulfilled their promise to the end of their lives and made pilgrimages to Kalisz, thanking God for their survival. Established by the Episcopate in 2002, The Day of Martyrdom of the Polish Clergy is a continuation of the annual thanksgiving of the Dachau prisoner priests. The last of them, Father Leon Stępniak, died in 2013. “We thank God for those who survived and remember in prayer about those who died” said Father Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, the spokesman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.