DICASTERIum de causis sanctorum

CRACOVIENSIS

Beatificationis seu Declarationis Martyrii

Servorum Dei

IOANNIS ŚWIERC

et VIII Sociorum

Societatis Sancti Francisci Salesii

in odium fidei, uti fertur, interfectorum

(†1941-1942)

___________________________________________________

DECRETUM SUPER MARTYRIO

‘Like gold in the furnace he tried them and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones’ (cf. Wis. 3:6-7,9).

‘In our own century the martyrs have returned, many of them nameless, “unknown soldiers” as it were of God’s great cause.’ With these words, in the apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente promulgated on 10 November 1994, the then Pope John Paul II, now a saint, recalled the sacrifice of numerous Christians of the 20th century who were victims of Nazi and Communist ideology.

It is in this dramatic page of history that we find the example of life and martyrdom of the Servants of God, Father Jan Świerc and eight companions who, in the context of the Second World War, torn apart by hatred and injustice, gave proof of their total dedication to God and fidelity to their Salesian vocation, remaining faithful to their priestly commitment until the last moment of their lives.

On 27 June 1941, Fathers Jan Świerc, Ignacy Dobiasz, Franciszek Harazim and Kazimierz Wojciechowski died at the hands of the SS in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The latter two Servants of God, in particular, were killed side by side at the same time. The Servant of God Father Ignacy Antonowicz died three weeks later, on 21 July 1941, as a result of the mistreatment he suffered on 27 June 1941. On 5 January 1942, the Servant of God Father Ludwik Mroczek also died in the Auschwitz concentration camp as a result of the torture he suffered and the numerous surgical operations that followed. A few months later, on 14 May 1942, Father Karol Golda was shot in the same camp, accused of having administered the sacrament of confession to two German soldiers for the sole purpose of extorting important secrets from the Nazi regime by deception. On 7 September 1942, the Servant of God Włodzimierz Szembek also died in the Auschwitz camp: in his case too, it was mistreatment that caused his death. All the Servants of God mentioned belonged to the Salesian Province of St Hyacinth in Krakow.

The Servant of God Franciszek Miśka, belonging to the Salesian Province of St Adalbert of Piła, died in the Dachau concentration camp (Germany) on 30 May 1942 as a result of mistreatment and torture. Father Jan Świerc and his eight companions, embracing in their personal history the redemptive value of physical and spiritual suffering, speak to the people of yesterday and today with the language of the Cross of Christ, bearing witness that, precisely when death seems to have achieved its victory, the true victors are those who, suffering for the sake of their faith, were able to participate in an extraordinary way in the Cross of Christ and adhere to his plan of salvation.

The Servant of God Jan Świerc was born in Królewska Huta (now Chorzów, in Upper Silesia) on 29 April 1877. He completed his secondary education in Valsalice, Turin. Between 1897 and 1898, he completed his novitiate in Ivrea. Here he took his perpetual vows on 3 October 1899. On 6 June 1903, he was ordained a priest in Turin. In 1911, he was appointed rector of the house in Krakow by the then Rector Major, Fr Paul Albera. From September 1911 to April 1918, he served as rector of the Lubomirski Institute in Krakow. In 1924, he spent seven months as a missionary in America. From November 1925 to October 1934, he was rector and parish priest in Przemyśl. On 15 August 1934, he was appointed rector of the house in Lviv.

In July 1938, he took on the role of rector and parish priest of the house in Krakow.

On 23 May 1941, he was arrested by the Gestapo along with other confreres and taken to prison in Montelupich.

The Servant of God Ignacy Antonowicz was born in 1890 in Więsławice, in the county of Włocławek, in north-central Poland. In 1901, he entered the Salesian high school in Oświęcim, where he remained until 1905. He made his perpetual profession in August 1909 in Lanzo Torinese, Italy. He was ordained a priest on 22 April 1916 in Rome.

Fr Ignacy taught dogmatic theology at the Theological College in Foglizzo (Turin) between 1916 and 1917. In 1919, during the Russian-Polish war, he was a military chaplain in the Polish army. Between 1919 and 1920, he was in Krakow as a professor at the Theological College. On 1 July 1934, he was appointed councillor of the Polish Province of St Hyacinth in Krakow until the end of 1936. In 1936, he took on the role of rector of the Salesian Theological College of the Immaculate Conception in Krakow, which he held until his arrest on 23 May 1941.

He was detained for a month in the Montelupich prison in Krakow, then taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was killed on 21 July 1941. He was 51 years old, had been a religious for 34 years and a priest for 25 years.

The Servant of God Ignacy Dobiasz was born in Ciechowice (Upper Silesia) on 14 January 1880. On 16 August 1898, he entered the Salesian novitiate in Ivrea. He took his perpetual vows in San Benigno Canavese on 21 September 1903. He completed his philosophical and theological studies in San Benigno Canavese and Foglizzo between 1904 and 1908. On 28 June 1908, he was ordained a priest in Foglizzo. Returning to Poland, he carried out his pedagogical and pastoral activities in Oświęcim, Daszawa, Przemyśl, Warsaw and Krakow, where he remained as confessor and parish collaborator. Here he was arrested together with other Salesian confreres on 23 May 1941.

The Servant of God Karol Golda was born on 23 December 1914 in Tychy, Upper Silesia. In 1931, he spent his novitiate year at the Salesian House in Czerwińsk. On 15 January 1937, he made his perpetual religious profession in Rome. On 18 December 1938, he was ordained a priest in Rome, where he remained for another six months to obtain his licentiate in theology. In July 1939, he returned to Poland.

When World War II broke out, Fr Karol went to Silesia in October 1939 and then to Oświęcim, where he remained because he did not have the necessary permission from the occupation authorities to travel to Italy. Fr Karol Golda was entrusted with teaching theology at the Salesian Institute in Oświęcim and was appointed school councillor.

He was arrested by Gestapo officials on 31 December 1941 and killed on 14 May 1942 in Auschwitz, after only three and a half years of priesthood.

The Servant of God Franciszek Ludwik Harazim was born on 22 August 1885 in Osiny, in the district of Rybnik in Silesia. In 1901, he entered the Salesian institute in Oświęcim to attend secondary school. He completed his novitiate in Daszawa in 1905/1906. On 24 March 1910, he took his perpetual vows. He was ordained a priest in Ivrea on 29 May 1915.

Between 1915 and 1916, he taught at the secondary school in Oświęcim, where he was appointed headmaster between 1916 and 1918. From 1918 to 1920, he taught philosophy at the Salesian major seminary in Krakow (Łosiówka). From 1922 to 1927, the Servant of God served as director of the Salesian secondary school in Aleksandrów Kujawski. In 1927, he returned to the major seminary in Krakow as a councillor, teacher and educator of clerics. In 1938, he was appointed professor at the Łosiówka, Krakow house.

He was arrested by the Gestapo in Krakow on 23 May 1941. He was first taken to Konfederacka Street and then, together with his other confreres, to the Montelupich prison. A month later, on 26 June 1941, he was taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was killed on 27 June 1941 on the famous Ghiaione. He was not yet 56 years old: of these, 34 were spent in religious profession and 26 in the priesthood.

The Servant of God Ludwik Mroczek was born in Kęty (Krakow) on 11 August 1905. In 1917, after attending school in Kęty, he was admitted to the Salesian institute in Oświęcim, where he completed his secondary education. He did his novitiate in Klecza Dolna. He completed it on 7 August 1922. He took his perpetual vows on 14 July 1928 in Oświęcim. He was ordained a priest in Przemyśl on 25 June 1933.

After his ordination, he worked in Oświęcim, Lviv, Przemyśl, Skawa and Częstochowa.

On 22 May 1941, immediately after celebrating Mass, he was arrested and transferred with other confreres to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He died there on 5 January 1942: he was 36 years old, had been a religious for 18 years and a priest for 8 years.

The Servant of God Włodzimierz Szembek, son of Count Zygmunt and Countess Klementyna of the Dzieduszycki family, was born on 22 April 1883 in Poręba Żegoty, near Krakow. In 1907, he graduated in agricultural engineering from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. For about twenty years, he managed his mother’s farms and was involved in lay apostolate. On 4 February 1928, he entered the Salesian aspirantate in Oświęcim. At the end of 1928, he began his novitiate in Czerwińsk. He made his religious profession on 10 August 1929. On 3 June 1934, he was ordained a priest in Krakow. He became provincial secretary and, in 1941, assistant parish priest in Skawa.

Arrested by the Gestapo on 9 July 1942 and imprisoned in Nowy Targ, on 19 August he was taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where, exhausted by suffering and inhuman labour, he died on 7 September 1942, aged 59, after 13 years of religious profession and 8 years of priesthood.

The Servant of God Kazimierz Wojciechowski was born in Jasło (Galicia) on 16 August 1904. Upon his father’s death when he was five, he was taken in by Prince Lubomirski's institute in Krakow. In 1920, he began his novitiate in Klecza Dolna. He took his perpetual vows on 2 May 1928 in Oświęcim. Between 1924 and 1925, he taught music and mathematics in Ląd. On 19 May 1935, he was ordained a priest in Krakow. In 1935-1936, he was in Daszawa and Krakow, where he taught religion and was appointed director of the oratory and the Catholic Youth Association.

The Servant of God was arrested in Krakow on 23 May 1941 with other Salesian confreres. On 26 June 1941, he was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp where, after just one day, he was killed. He was 37 years old, had been a Salesian for 19 years and a priest for 6 years.

The Servant of God Franciszek Miśka was born in Swierczyniec (Upper Silesia) on 5 December 1898. He entered the novitiate in Pleszów in 1916. He made his perpetual profession in Oświęcim on 25 July 1923. He completed his theological studies at the Crocetta, Turin. He was ordained a priest on 10 July 1927 in Turin. Upon his return to Poland, he was appointed councillor and catechist at the orphanage in Przemyśl in 1929. In 1931, he was appointed rector of the house in Jaciążek and, from 1936, he lived in Ląd, first as parish priest and then as rector of the house of the Sons of Mary.

On 6 January 1941, the Salesian institute in Ląd was transformed by the Gestapo into a prison for priests from the dioceses of Włocławek and Gniezno-Poznań. Don Franciszek was entrusted by the German authorities with the task of maintaining order and providing for the prisoners. For unspecified reasons, he was transferred several times to Inowrocław, where he was brutally tortured. On 30 October 1941, the Servant of God was transported to the Dachau concentration camp (Germany). There, subjected to forced labour and inhumane living conditions, he died on 30 May 1942, the feast of the Holy Trinity, in the camp hospital barrack. He was 43 years old, had been a religious for almost 25 years and a priest for almost 15 years.

On 17 September 2003, the diocesan inquiry into the life, martyrdom and reputation for martyrdom of the Servants of God Henryk Szuman and 121 companions who died during the Second World War as victims of Nazism, began in Warsaw. Among them were the Servants of God Jan Świerc and eight companions. The Cause was conducted by the Diocese of Pelplin. The rogatory inquiries for each candidate were initiated in their respective dioceses. The rogatory inquiry of the Servants of God Jan Świerc and seven companions took place in the Archdiocese of Krakow from 17 September 2003 to 16 May 2011. The rogatory inquiry of the Servant of God Franciszek Miśka took place in Ląd from 28 February 2004 to 12 May 2011 in Aleksandrów Kujawski. On 24 May 2011, the diocesan inquiry into the Servant of God Fr Henryk Szuman and his 121 companions was concluded, and its legal validity was recognised by this Dicastery in a decree dated 28 June 2013. On 24 May 2019, the Holy See allowed the extrapolation of the nine martyrs from the group to which they belonged and gave authorisation to proceed. A new Cause was consequently instituted for the Servant of God, Father Jan Świerc, and eight companions.

Once the Positio was prepared, it was submitted for examination to the Session of Historical Consultors on 28 March 2023 and to the Special Congress of Theological Consultors on 3 December 2024, both of which expressed a favourable opinion.

On 7 October 2025, the Cardinal Fathers and Bishops, gathered in Ordinary Session, recognised that the Servants of God died for their faith in Christ and their charity towards their brothers in trial.

The undersigned Cardinal Prefect then reported all these things to the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIV. His Holiness, accepting and ratifying the votes of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, today declared: The martyrdom and its cause of the Servants of God Jan Świerc and eight companions, in the case and for the purpose in question, have been proven

The Supreme Pontiff then ordered that this decree be published and included in the records of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Issued in Rome, 24 October 2025

Marcello Card. Semeraro

Prefect

 Fabio Fabene

Tit. Archb. of Montefiascone

Secretary