TWO MARTYRS OF BELARUS

Why am I emphasizing martyrs of WWII during this Lent?  Because the heroic witnesses of these saints and blesseds can be an inspiration for us all, especially in the troubling times of our world today.  May we in our small Lenten practices strive to imitate the witness of these martyrs, and die to ourselves.

Our next blesseds of WWII martyred by the Nazi, were Marians of the Immaculate Conception in Belarus. They are ANTHONY LESZCZEWICZ and GEORGE KASZYRA.

 In Rosica, in Belarus, where the Marians had a mission parish, the Bolsheviks occupied the town in 1939, with the Germans  taking occupation in 1941. The Nazi regime was coming over the Latvian border, and the residents of little town knew that danger was imminent.

 One of the religious sisters on mission in the town survived the persecution and gives an account of the two blessed priests and their heroic witness at that time.

“On Tuesday, February 16, bells began to ring. The Germans rounded up the first groups of people and held them in the church in Rosica: Mothers with babies, children, youngsters, and old people. They also herded us Sisters inside. In the church there was shouting, crying, and despair. At the request of Father Leszczewicz, a German read out our names and ordered the Sisters to leave the church and go to the rectory. The priests stayed in the church during all of Tuesday and all night. They celebrated Holy Masses, listened to confessions, and administered other sacraments.

 On Wednesday, February 17, Father Kaszyra came to the rectory, heard our confessions, and gave us Holy Communion. During the day, the priests persevered in their priestly ministry in the church. We kept bringing bread, milk, and whatever we had to the church, especially for the children.

 In the afternoon of February 17, about 4 p.m., Father Leszczewicz appeared. He said farewell to us. He was full of joy. He said with a smile: "Bear up and pray. I am going to show them the warehouse." And he never came back.

 When we tried to return to the church, the officer stopped us and didn't let us in. He said that Father Kaszyra would come right back. Late in the evening, Father Kaszyra actually returned and said to us: "Father Leszczewicz is already dead and tomorrow I will be dead, too."

At night, from Wednesday to Thursday, February 17-18, the Sisters were continually praying in a bedroom. In the dining room, Father Kaszyra kept vigil all night long. He was praying, walking around, kneeling, and prostrating himself.

 On Thursday, February 18, he brought the Blessed Sacrament from the church and distributed it among us. At 10 a.m., Father George Kaszyra was taken away. In front of the church, he was ordered to mount the sledge. He was taken away among many other sledges. He bade farewell to us, turned toward Druja, and then said: "Pray and ask forgiveness from God for my sins, because I will face God's judgment in a few minutes."

Together with Sister Rozalia Marcilonek, we went back to the rectory and we looked through the window at the entire convoy. Father George Kaszyra was in the first sledge. They went uphill and turned right. A moment later, the entire hut erupted in flames. Rosica and the neighboring villages were being burned. The whole sky was on fire; and when the fires burned out, partially burned bodies, piled together, could be seen.”

The two Marian Martyrs were among more than 1,500 laypeople and dozens of religious in Belarus, killed by the Nazis in February of 1943. The Germans were rounding up all who resisted their occupation of the land formerly held by the Soviet Union. Many others were sent to Nazi work camps in Poland.

Marian.org
TheDivineMercy.org