Cecylia Roszak

Cecylia Maria Roszak OP (born March 25, 1908 in Kielczewo , Posen Province , German Empire ; † November 16, 2018 in Krakow , Poland ) was a Polish resistance fighter and supercentenarian who was considered one of the oldest nuns at the end of her life . Sister Cecylia is one of the Righteous Among the Nations in Yad Vashem .

Life

Cecylia Roszak joined the Krakow Na Gródku Monastery of the Dominican Order in 1929 at the age of 21 . Five years later, she made her vows. In 1938 she and 17 other Dominican sisters founded a monastery in Wilno, Poland (now Vilnius , Lithuania ), in which she sheltered more than ten Jews from the local ghetto from persecution and the Holocaust . Resistance fighters Abba Kovner , Izrael Chaim Wilner (Arie Wilner) , Chajka Grosman, Edek Boraks, Chum Godot and Israel Nagel were among the people rescued by her and other nuns in her monastery . In 1943, however, the monastery was closed again. In her monastery in Krakow she was repeatedly elected superior. In addition to Polish, she also spoke English, German, French and Latin.

Sr. Cecylia died in the Dominican convent in Kraków.

Honors

• Righteous Among the Nations, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem Holocaust Memorial Center (1984)

Web links

• Felix Neumann: The oldest nun in the world and the savior of the Jews dies at 110. In: kathisch.de . 22nd November 2018 . 
• Sister Cecylia Maria Roszak, who saved Jews during the Holocaust, dies at 110. In: Jewish Telegraphic Agency . November 16, 2018(English). 
• Beata Zawrzel: Funeral Of The Oldest Nun In The World. In: Getty Images . November 23, 2018 (English, pictures of the funeral service). 
• Woman thought to be world's oldest nun, who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, dies at 110. In: USA Today . November 22, 2018(English). 
• Harriet Agerholm: Polish nun who helped hide Jewish children from Nazis dies aged 110. In: independent.co.uk . November 22, 2018 (English). 
• Probably the oldest nun in the world died in Poland at the age of 110. In: Epoch Times . 22nd November 2018. 
• The Righteous Among The Nations: Roszak Celina. Yad Vashem (English).