Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz

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Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz

Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz OFM (born July 9, 1882 as Jakub Pankiewicz in Nagórzany , Poland ; † probably May 20, 1942 near Linz , Austria ) was a Polish Franciscan priest who was killed by the German Nazi regime. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as a martyr and blessed .

Life

Jakub Pankiewicz grew up in a large farming family in the village of Nagórzany ( Bukowsko municipality ). After primary school in his home village, he attended high schools in Sanok and Lwiw (Lemberg) from 1896 to 1899 . At the age of seventeen Jakub joined the Order of Franciscan Observants (OFM), on February 2, 1901, he received the first sacrament of Holy Orders . After that, he continued his education at the Przemyśl High School . He then studied philosophy from 1902 to 1904 in the convent of St. Casimir in Kraków , then until 1906 theology in the monastery of St. Andrew in Lemberg.

On the occasion of his religious vows Jakub Pankiewicz was given the name "Anastasius" (Polish: Anastazy ) in 1904 . After his ordination on July 1, 1906, he took up his work as a preacher and confessor in the monastery of Wieliczka . From 1908 to 1911 he held the office of novice master in Włocławek , then he worked as an educator for the clergy at the convent of St. Andrew in Lemberg, later as a chaplain to the St. Bernard sisters in Krakow. During the First World War , Pankiewicz looked after Polish soldiers in Hungary as a military chaplain with the rank of captain. After the war he was prior at the Monastery of St. Bernardine of Siena in Krakow until 1930 .

In 1930 Pankiewicz bought a piece of land in Łódź to build a school, a church and a monastery. In 1932 - with financial support from Polish believers from Canada - the monastery was built, of which he became the first prior. In September 1936 he accepted three women into the Third Order of St. Francis and thus founded the Order of the Antonius Sisters of Christ the King (Polish: Siostry Antonianki od Chrystusa Króla ). A year later, another large building was erected into which the new high school of St. Anthony moved. With the beginning of the Second World War and the annexation of the region around Łódź by National Socialist Germany , Pankiewicz was deprived of the opportunity to continue the school.

Deportation and death

Memorial stone in Nagórzany

On February 2, 1940, Pankiewicz had to leave the school building. When the German occupiers took over the church to use it as a barn, he found shelter with the head of the local cemetery. On April 1, 1940, Pankiewicz was arrested and imprisoned in the remand prison in Łódź. He was released 17 days later. On October 6, 1941, he was arrested again and, after brief placement in a camp in Konstantynów, deported to the Dachau concentration camp . There he had to take off his habit for good and move into a barrack in the priestly block.

On May 18, 1942, the now 60-year-old Pankiewicz was selected to be transported to the Hartheim euthanasia center to be gassed after he had been classified as no longer fit for work . According to eyewitness reports, on May 20, 1942, the day of the transport, the following happened: As one of the last to board the transport vehicle, which was already loaded with 60 prisoners, he stretched out his hands to help a fellow prisoner. When the SS men slammed the heavy iron door of the vehicle at that moment, both hands were severed. Pankiewicz presumably bled to death during the transport; if he survived the serious injuries, it would be assumed that he was gassed immediately upon arrival in Hartheim. For this reason, the date of death is assumed to be May 20, 1942, other sources cite April 20, 1942. The bodies of the murdered were burned in the camp's crematorium , the ashes were buried in a grave in front of today's Hartheim Castle Memorial . A memorial stone today commemorates Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz in his native Nagórzany.

Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz was later recognized as a martyr and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 13, 1999, along with 107 other Polish martyrs from the German occupation regime in Warsaw . April 20th was set as the day of remembrance.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e P. Jakub Pankiewicz. In: The blessed of the Dachau concentration camp. Retrieved June 28, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b Założyciel. (No longer available online.) In: Order of the Sisters of Anthony of Christ the King. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016 ; Retrieved June 28, 2016 (Polish).
  3. ↑ BEATOS ANASTASIO PANKIEWICZ Y COMPAÑEROS, MÁRTIRES DE POLONIA († 1940-43). In: Directorio Franciscanos. Retrieved June 28, 2016 (Spanish).
  4. ↑ Britta Dörre: prisoner number 28176, Block 04/28, Dachau. Father Anastasius Pankiewicz OFM (1882-1942). In: Zenit.org . April 20, 2015, accessed June 28, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Fabio Arduino: Blessed Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz, April 20. In: The Black Cordelias. Retrieved June 28, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Fabio Arduino: Beato Anastasio Giacomo (Anastazy Jakub) Pankiewicz. Retrieved June 28, 2016 (Italian).

Web links

Commons : Anastazy Pankiewicz  - collection of images
personal data
SURNAME Pankiewicz, Anastazy Jakub
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pankiewicz, Jakub (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish Franciscan priest, victim of the Holocaust
DATE OF BIRTH July 9, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Nagórzany , Poland
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: May 20, 1942
Place of death uncertain: near Linz , Austria