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The
Righteous
Among the Nations:
Fifteen Jesuits ++
-- By the Rev. Vincent A. Lapomarda, S.J.
Note: These fifteen Jesuits have been formally recognized
by
Yad Vashem, The
Holocaust
Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, in Jerusalem, for risking
their
lives to save Jews during the Holocaust of World War II. Adam
Sztark (1907-1942) is the latest to be recognized (March 8,
2001).
He was the rector of the Jesuit church in Slonim, located in Belarus,
and pastor of the Zyrowice Parish who was executed, on 2 December 1942,
at Gorki Pantalowickie by the Nazis for helping Jewish children escape
the Holocaust by obtaining refuge for them at the convent of the Sisters
of the Immaculate Conception. Two nuns, Maria
Ewa Noiszewska (1885-1942) and Maria
Marta Wolowska (1879-1942), from this convent who had helped
Father
Sztark in protecting the Jewish children were among the 108
victims of the Nazis beatified by Pope John Paul II in Warsaw's
central square, on 13 June 1999. His cause for beatification, with a
number
of other Jesuit victims of the Nazis, was inaugurated by the
Jesuits
in 2000. Joseph W. Kolkman (1896-1944), a native of the Hague in the Netherlands, and a Jesuit Scholastic for ten years, was recognized by Yad Vashem in mid-May of 2013 for helping Jews escape the Nazis during the Second World War, years after he had left the Society of Jesus.
++ Rev. James W. Bernauer, S. J., reported from
Jerusalem,
on April 28, 2007, that he discovered that three more Belgian Jesuits
were
recognized, on June 24, 1975, because of their assistance in the
rescue efforts of the network operated by Benedykt Grynpas
(1902-1979).
The latter was an expert in Chinese philosophy and was recognized as a
Righteous among the Gentiles at the same time as the Jesuits and
all are listed on Yad Vashem's list
(http://www.maisondesjustes.com/liste.html) of Belgians so recognized .
Other Jesuits who Helped Jews
There are other Jesuits who risked their lives to save Jews and
have yet to be recognized
by Yad
Vashem. Some of the more prominent are listed here:
 Antoni
Grzybowski (1904-1943), a Jesuit priest who was originally
thought
to have been executed by the Nazis, on 20 October 1943, at Albertyn, for
helping Jews seek refuge at the Jesuit novitiate. However,
later evidence indicates that he was executed by Russians in German
uniforms.
Jesuits
like Louis
de
Jabrun (1883-1943), Victor
Dillard (1897-1945), and Henri
Van Oostayen (1906-1945), died in concentration camps for
helping
Jews.
And there were other
Jesuits like Ludger
Born (1897-1980) in Austria; Maurice
Robinet (1907-1977) in Belgium;
Cardinal
Henri de Lubac(1896-1991), Gaston
Fessard (1897-1978), and
Michel Riquet (1898-1993) in France; Alfred
Delp (1907-1945), and Georg
von
Sachsen (1893-1943), former Prince of Saxony in
Germany;
Gerard
de Jong (1892-1970) in Holland; Paolo
Dezza (1901-1999), and Pietro
Tacchi Venturi (1861-1956) in Italy; Jonas B.
Borevicius
(1906-1989), Karl Fulst (1903-1991), and Jonas B.
Paukstys
(1899-1965) in Lithuania; Jerzy Mirewicz
(1909-1996),
and Jozef Warszawski (1903-1997) in Poland; Rudolf
Mikus
(1884-1972) in Slovakia; and
Karlo Leopold (1885-1956) in
Yugoslavia
who helped Jews. For more, see Vincent A. Lapomarda,
"Jesuits
and Jews During the Holocaust,"Yearbook of the Society of Jesus 2000,156-158.
For more information on
those who
risked their lives, see site on the Righteous
Gentiles
and the Bibliography
on the subject in addition to a
list of more than 700 Poles who were killed in helping Jews
and the edition under Israel Gutman and Lucien Lazare, Dictioinnaire
des
Justes de France (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem and Paris: Fayard,
2003).
Indicates link to book
listing in library catalog.
Write to:
Rev. Vincent A. Lapomarda, S. J.
(vlapomar@holycross.edu)
with comments or questions.
Last updated January 20, 2012.
Copyright
© 1997-2012, College of the Holy Cross.
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