Summary
Father Adam Sztark, a Polish Jesuit priest, was active in saving Jewish children during World War II. Born in 1907 and martyred in 1942, Father Sztark used his position as chaplain for the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary to provide spiritual comfort to hospital patients disguised as an elderly man visiting his ailing daughter or to nursing homes under the pretense of being a Jewish visitor. In 1939, when Słonim fell under Nazi German occupation, he risked his life by smuggling food and cigarettes to Russian officers in POW camps through barbed wire. He also catechized Poles and offered them sacrament in hiding places like convents and orphanages. Despite the high risk of death for aiding Jews in occupied Poland, Father Sztark continued his missions. In 1942, he consolde inmates scheduled to be executed by the Gestapo, offering them sacraments and baptism. Ultimately arrested on December 18, Sztark was sentenced to death along with two Polish nuns who had accompanied him.
Key Topics
World War II, Adam Sztark, Auschwitz-Birkenau
