Fr. Wlodzimierz Szembek, Polish Salesian Martyr

(ANS – Krakow – May 29, 2026) – Wlodzimierz was good from childhood. Not because he had everything. He was good because he chose to be. God was for him the source of life and happiness. Like Don Bosco, he wore strings dyed with ink in his shoes instead of laces, because he chose poverty. Like St. Francis, he chose the poor and the least. Like St. Maximilian Kolbe, he gave his life for his neighbor. And what would he have said about it? When the Gestapo arrived, he said, “It’s a shame that we had to wait so long for this.”

Childhood and Youth

Fr. Wlodzimierz Szembek was born on April 22, 1883, in the village of Poreba Zegoty near Krakow, son of Count Zygmunt and Klementyna Szembek. His grandfather was Wlodzimierz Dzieduszycki, marshal of the Galician Sejm and a member of the House of Lords of the Austrian Council of State. [Until 1919 Poland did not exist as a state. Its territory had been divided in the 18th century among Prussia, Austria, and Russia.]

Wlodzimierz was raised and educated in a Catholic spirit by his pious mother. In 1907, he obtained a degree in agricultural engineering from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He completed agricultural training in Greater Poland and forestry training in Lesser Poland. At the age of 24, he became the plenipotentiary and administrator of his mother’s estate, covering 7,500 acres in Wegierka, Pruchnik, and Kramarzowka near Jaroslaw. He chose, however, a life among the poor and simple people, engaging in lay apostolate. He traveled 3d class, spent time with the servants on his estate, and did not create distance between himself and others. He generously gave to everyone, choosing for himself a life of poverty.

Perhaps his spiritual portrait was most faithfully described by the pastor of Pruchnik:

“Wlodzimierz Szembek lived in this parish for 20 years. Thruout that time, he was generous to others and strict with himself. No one left him without support; he lived very modestly. He supported religious congregations, orphanages, and educational institutions. He never gave scandal to anyone—he edified all with patience and kindness, and above all with his religious life. He recited the breviary and, in recent times, frequently received the sacraments. He was surrounded with respect and was even regarded as a saint.” It became clear that a vocation was slowly maturing within him.

Salesian Path

On February 4, 1928, he was an aspirant in Oswiecim, in order to observe the work and vocation of the Salesians. Assured that this was his life’s path, at the end of 1928 he began the novitiate in Czerwinsk on the Vistula, which he completed with religious profession on August 10, 1929.

After making his vows, he completed his practical training in Aleksandrow Kujawski, then studied theology in the Salesian seminary in Oswiecim and Krakow, where on June 3, 1934, he received priestly ordination from his relative, Prince Archbishop Adam Stefan Sapieha.

He then worked in Krakow as provincial secretary, later in Kopiec near Czestochowa, where, thanks to his agricultural education, he taught agronomy, and again worked in Krakow at the Salesian major seminary, where he was responsible for financial matters. The outbreak of World War II found him in Skawa.

Arrest

On July 9, 1942, Gestapo officers entered the Salesian house in Skawa and intended to take the superior of the community, the 72-year-old Fr. Walenty Kozak, as a hostage in place of an escaped aspirant. Fr. Wlodzimierz stood in his defense and said that they should take him instead of Fr. Kozak, since the latter was the superior and should remain. The scene is reminiscent of the well-known story of Fr. Maximilian Kolbe. This time it ended differently, however—both Salesians were taken. Fortunately, Fr. Walenty was released after 2 weeks. The heroic act of Fr. Szembek did not go unnoticed.

Martyrdom and Death

Fr. Szembek was taken to prison in Nowy Targ, and then to Zakopane, where he spent over a month. He was tied to a post in shackles; his persecutors beat him, mocked him, ridiculed him, and broke his ribs. He was held in a concrete cell—damp and cold—without a mattress or blanket, constantly interrogated and subjected to torture.

A fellow prisoner from that time testified that Fr. Wlodzimierz returned from interrogations calm, without sadness or fear, without anger toward his enemies and without curses; moreover, he urged others to pray for their persecutors, as Christ had done. In this one matter, the fellow prisoners could not agree with Fr. Szembek.

From Zakopane—his shoulder joints dislocated, his ribs fractured, and with gangrene in his leg—he was transported to Tarnow, and later to Auschwitz. In that camp, he was assigned to heavy labor pulling a roller used to compact the camp grounds. Exhausted, destroyed, beaten, and tortured, he died on September 18, 1942. He bore the camp number 60019.

Beatification Process   

For Fr. Szembek’s beatification process, see the end of the article on Fr. Karol Golda below.

Fr. Szmebek – Video

Video I:

EN https://youtube.com/shorts/5kOFCRpU6fw

Video II:

EN https://youtu.be/GmviTyGmEGk