Fr. Jan Swierc, Polish Salesian Martyr
His Salesian journey
Having completed his secondary education at Valdocco, Turin,
in 1897, he entered the Salesian novitiate at Ivrea. He made his first religious
profession on October 3, 1899. He subsequently studied philosophy and theology
in Turin. He served as secretary to the rector major, Fr. Michael Rua, and
collaborated with Fr. Victor Grabelski on the editing of the Salesian News
in Polish. On June 6, 1903, he was ordained in Turin’s cathedral by Cardinal
Agostino Richelmy.
On his return to Poland, he was entrusted with organizing
the novitiate at the new Salesian house in Daszawa. After its opening, he
became chaplain at the Lubomirski Institute in Krakow. In 1905, he was
appointed director of the Oswiecim Institute, taking over the post from the
first director of the work, Fr. Emmanuel Manassero. Thanks to his commitment
and that of Fr. Manassero, the Oswiecim Institute was able to secure the
creation of an image of Mary Help of Christians for the church dedicated to
her.
In 1911, the rector major, Fr. Paul Albera, appointed him director
of the house in Krakow, at the Lubomirski Institute on Rakowicka Street, now
the site of the University School of Economics. In 1914, he provided care for
wounded soldiers at that institute. In 1915, he organized assistance in Oswiecim,
in the Zasole area, for war refugees from Eastern Galicia.
In 1918, he founded the first Salesian mission in the
territories that had been part of the Russian Empire, in Kielce, becoming its
first director and pastor. In 1923 he returned to Oswiecim, where he organized
the 25th anniversary of Salesian activity in Poland and the first pilgrimage of
the Salesian Cooperators to Rome. In 1924 he served as a missionary in America
for 7 months. From November 1925 to October 1934 he was director and pastor in Przemysl.
On August 15, 1934, he was appointed director of the house in Lviv, at the church
of Our Lady of Ostra Brama. A serious illness interrupted his work, but by July
1938 he had resumed his pastoral ministry as pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish
in Krakow and director of the local Salesian community, where soon Karol
Wojtyla arrived for university studies.
The arrest
On the eve of the feast of Mary Help of Christians, May 23, 1941,
he was arrested in Krakow along with other confreres. From the house on
Konfederacka Street they were all transferred to the city’s Montelupich Prison.
Subsequently, in a convoy together with Krakow’s intelligentsia and
Jews, the prisoners were led on June 26, 1941, chained in pairs, from
Montelupich prison to the Auschwitz extermination camp. There were 12 Salesians:
11 priests and 1 brother. In the roll-call square, their handcuffs were removed
and they were assigned to the punishment company in the death block.
The commander of the punishment company, a grim-looking SS
officer, asked each new arrival his profession. When he received the reply
“Catholic priest,” he became particularly enraged: he would kick them in the
stomach, beat their faces and heads with his whip until blood streamed down
their necks and backs. He would shout: “Priest, thief, hypocrite!”; then he
would deliver a “welcome speech,” concluding with the invective: “You’ll all
die here, you dogs and pigs! Your only hope is the crematorium.”
Martyrdom
The following day, the prisoners set off for work. The penal
company worked in the gravel pits. The priests and Jews were separated and
placed under the special supervision of the SS and sadistic kapos. Each
received an iron wheelbarrow, a shovel, and a pickaxe. The work consisted of
breaking up stones and gravel with the pickaxe, loading them onto the
wheelbarrows, and transporting them to a pit 25 feet deep. The work had to be
carried out “at a run,” under the supervision of special foremen armed with
sticks. They beat the prisoners mercilessly and were particularly vicious
toward the priests. Before long, their hands were covered in bleeding sores and
exhaustion took hold of their aching bones.
The first to collapse was Fr. Swierc, who heard the cruel
kapo say: “You don’t want to work! I’ll help you now!” and with the heavy
handle he struck him on the head and back. Fr. Swierc grabbed a wheelbarrow
laden with heavy stones and slowly made his way toward the pit, while the kapo
walked behind him, pressing him on and striking him with terrible blows. Every
time the poor man fell to the ground, he forced him to get up again with kicks.
Fr. Swierc felt that the final moments of his life were drawing near. With
every blow he sighed, “O Jesus, Jesus,” which infuriated the kapo even further.
“Now I’ll show you Jesus!” he shouted. “There’s no God here! He won’t snatch
you from my hands!”
At one point he struck him with all his might across the
face with a stiff whip, so violently that his eye popped out of its socket. It
hung limply from his cheek, held in place by a single tendon, whilst a trickle
of blood flowed from the dark eye socket. His mangled face was covered in
congealed blood, presenting a horrific sight.
Fr. Swierc was still alive and praying. Muffled moans
escaped his lips: “O Jesus, have mercy on me!” The blood-stained kapo decided
to deliver the fatal blow to his victim. He lifted him off the ground and, with
all his strength, hurled him onto the wheelbarrow full of stones, breaking his
spine; then, he crushed his dangling head with a stone.
Fr. Swierc was dead. His body was carried on a wheelbarrow
to the crematorium. He was the first victim of that memorable day. He died in
the infamous gravel pit, on the 2d day of his stay in the camp. He passed to
the Lord to receive the reward for his fidelity to his Salesian and priestly
vocation.
Fr. Jan Swierc died on June 27, 1941, aged 64, after 42
years of religious vows and 38 years of priesthood. He bore the camp
registration number 17352.
On the beatification process, see the last part of the
article on Fr. Karol Golda, below.
Two videos have been produced on Fr. Swierc, both available
in 3 languages
Video I:
Video II:
