Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski
Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski (born January 22, 1913 in Chełmża , † February 23, 1945 in Dachau concentration camp ) was a Polish Catholic priest . He is venerated as a blessed by the Roman Catholic Church . His feast day is February 23.
Life
Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski was born on January 22, 1913 in Chełmża as the third of seven children of Ludwik Frelichowski and Marta Olszewska. His father was a master baker and had a pastry shop.
From 1919 to 1923 he attended primary school in Chełmża. At the age of 9 he became an acolyte . From 1923 to high school graduation in 1931 he attended the humanistic boys' grammar school in Chełmża. On May 26, 1927 he was accepted into the Marian Congregation there. On March 21, 1927, he joined the scouts, where he soon took over leadership roles. In autumn 1931 he entered the seminary in Pelplin and on March 14, 1937 he was ordained a priest from Bishop Stanisław Wojciech Okoniewski, whose personal secretary he became. On January 1, 1938, he was employed as an assistant in the parish Wejherowo and on July 1, 1938 as a vicar in the parish in Toruń . At the same time he was entrusted with the pastoral care of the boy scouts in Pomerania. The Gestapo arrested him on September 11, 1939. He was released a few days later, but arrested again on October 18, 1939 and taken to the Fort VII prison camp in Toruń. On January 8, 1940, he was taken to another prison camp near Nowy Port, and from there on January 10, 1940 to the Stutthof concentration camp . He was transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp on April 10, 1940, and finally to Dachau concentration camp on December 13, 1940 . There he helped the sick and dying and secretly founded a Polish Caritas organization in the camp. During the typhus epidemic in the winter of 1944/45 he contracted typhoid while nursing and also got pneumonia. He died on February 23, 1945. The medical student Stanisław Bieniek was able to make a death mask and severed two fingers on his right hand to secure them as relics . These were buried in the Dachau concentration camp plantation and found with great difficulty after the war.
Commemorations and honors
The beatification process began in 1964 and was completed on February 18 at the diocesan level. The beatification took place on June 7, 1999 by Pope John Paul II in Toruń. Since March 22, 2002 he has been the patron saint of Polish boy scouts. The Toruń Seminary is named after him, as well as the Primary School in Turzy Wielka, School No. 6 in Toruń and Middle School No. 1 in Chełmża.
Relics can be found in the chapel of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw and in the Church of St. Mary in Toruń . In the latter, commemorative ceremonies take place annually on February 21 and 23.
literature
- Krystyna Podlaszewska, Sługa Boży ks. Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski (1913–1945) , Toruń 1998
- A. Czetwertyński, Druh Wicek - patron harcerzy polskich , Warszawa 2003
- Robert Zadura, Błogosławiony ks. Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski (1913–1945) , Toruń 2006
Web links
- Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski - Solidarity was more important to him than saving his own life. 2012.
- 7 June 1999. In: Biographies of New Blessed - 1999. (English).
- Blessed Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski. catholicsaints.info(English).
Individual evidence
- ^ Monika Neudert: Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski. In: http://www.selige-kzdachau.de . Accessed December 1, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Frelichowski, Stefan Wincenty |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish Catholic priest and blessed |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 22, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chełmża |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 23, 1945 |
| Place of death | Dachau concentration camp |