The Salesian Martyrs of Auschwitz

The Salesian Martyrs of Auschwitz
This book tells the story of 22 Polish Catholic priests who were sent to Auschwitz under Nazi persecution of the Church in Poland. They were all members of the Salesians of Don Bosco (an Italian order of priests founded to work with young people). The first Salesians arrived in Poland at the end of the 19th Century to begin their work there, taking over a derelict church in the small town of Oświęcim. They could not have known the significance of that place. 40 years later the Salesians had communities, parishes and schools throughout Poland. When the Nazis invaded in 1939, they occupied the town of Oświęcim and renamed it ‘Auschwitz’. Among the many priests who would be imprisoned in the camp there would be 22 from the Salesian family, several of whom had been pupils or teachers in the town before the war. Only 6 of the Salesians survived the war. This story tells the story of all 22 of the Salesians who were imprisoned in Auschwitz and reminds us of the wider story of the persecution of Polish Catholics in Poland under the Nazis.