Throughout the Second World War, there were a huge number of executions which were carried
out on the battlefield.
The German military rampaged throughout different lands, and following their advances, execution
squads would cause havoc and devastation.
There were many forgotten victims of the German military, and sadly still today many people
still lay undisturbed close to where they were killed and their stories have yet to
be told.
The Germans used terror tactics to bring people into submission, and anyone who showed any
sign of dissent or opposition to Hitler and the regime were rounded up by the Gestapo,
and were subjected to torture and interrogation.
This often led to them being transported then to concentration camps, or even worse being
sent to prisons where they were executed following biased trials.
The conflict saw ordinary people plunged into the depths of the deadliest battles that history
and the world has ever seen.
But there was one group of women who were subject to heavy persecution during the war,
and shockingly despite being incredibly peaceful and harmless women of religion, the Gestapo
ordered the brutal executions of 11 nuns.
Join us today as we look at the horrific executions of the 11 nuns that stood up to Hitler.
Remember to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
The martyrs of Nowogrodek were also known as the Blessed Martyrs, or the 11 Nuns.
They were a group of members of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, which was
a polish Catholic religious group.
The sisters of the order, arrived in Nowogrodek which was part of the Second Polish republic
in 1929.
They had been summoned to the town at the request of the local Bishop, and the sisters
when they arrived became an important part of the town, and they were incredibly well
respected.
As was expected, they lived a very quiet life which was devoted to religious contemplation,
prayer and helping out in the local community, and the nuns were loved by the locals.
However, as the Second World War broke out, chaos and war would be brought to the doorstep
of their congregation.
On the 1st September 1939, Hitler would invade Poland and this was a joint operation at the
time with the Soviets.
It had been agreed a week earlier following the signing of the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact
that Stalin and Hitler would divide Poland between the two nations, and that they would
also have a non aggression pact which brought many to believe that peace would exist between
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union for some time.
The Germans invaded Poland from the north, south and west, and the county would quickly
then be annexed by the Germans and absorbed into Hitler’s Third Reich.
In 1939, Nowogrodek where the.nuns were based was found in the Kerry part of pre-war Poland,
which today is central Belarus.
This was annexed by the Soviet Union, and was then brought into the Belarusian, Soviet
Socialist Republic.
But in 1941, the town was then occupied by the German army, following the launch of Operation
Barbarossa.
Hitler turned on Stalin, and would launch his offensive against the Soviet’s violating
the previous pact between the pair.
Stalin never saw the invasion coming, and Hitler’s tanks rampaged into Soviet lands,
forcing the Red Army back and they sustained heavy losses.
So the sisters were living under the German occupation, and many Catholics found themselves
persecuted during this time, and many nuns and priests would find themselves being brought
in for interrogation being suspected of dissenting against Hitler.
Hitler disliked certain religious beliefs and sects as he did not like the fact their
primary loyalty lay to God and not him, and many people could not accept Hitler and his
political party over their beliefs.
But the Nuns of Nowogrodek continued to work inside of the German occupation, and during
this they took part in the day to day running of church services for the town, and they
helped to prepare these.
The prayers they offered became a great source of comfort and hope to many people who were
being treated terribly and were being persecuted, and things got much worse as the Nazis ramped
up their persecution inside the town.
In 1942, the Nazis stepped up their anti jewish actions, and before the war around half of
the 20,000 people living there were Jewish.
But in the course of a number of massacres, the Germans slaughtered around 9500 Jews in
a number of mass executions, and the final 550 were then sent to concentration camps,
where many of them succumbed to the horrific conditions and treatment.
There were also further arrests of the polish population, and two Catholic priests from
the town were arrested and then executed, and this continued a number of times.
Dozens of people were being executed, and the women of the town asked the Nuns and the
sisters to pray for the health and release of the prisoners.
The nuns then got together, and they wished to do something valiant and to try and save
more people inside of the town.
They decided to try and offer their lives to the Nazis in sacrifice for the prisoners
of the Gestapo, and they were willing to die to save the lives of others like martyrs.
Sister Maria Stella spoke with the local pastor and said, ‘My God, if sacrificing of life
is needed, accept it from us and spare those who have families.
We are even praying for this intent.’
With this shockingly, the prisoners were given a different fate as some were released, and
a number were changed from being marked for execution to deportation to work camps.
The life of the local pastor was then under threat, and the sisters once again offered
their lives to the Gestapo and they said, ‘There is a greater need for a priest on
this earth than for us.
We pray that God will take us in his place, if sacrifice of life is needed.’
But the Gestapo would horrifically and tragically take the nuns up on their offer and they would
ruthlessly slaughter them.
On the 31st July 1943, the nuns were ordered by the Gestapo commander to go to the local
police station.
They were held under lock and key over night, and then the following morning they were thrown
into a van and were taken just outside the boundary of the town.
The nuns, all 11 of them were gathered in a quiet spot in the woods around 3 miles from
the town, and the 11 women were all huddled together.
All of a sudden, the Gestapo officers then opened up their machine guns on the nuns,
and they were all executed where they stood.
The shooting was over quickly as the women were riddled with bullets, and then the Gestapo
then buried the 11 women into a common grave.
There was one nun who remained at the church to take care of it, Sister Banas who later
located the grave of the nuns, and she would quietly tend to it over the years.
The 11 murdered and executed sisters were Sister M Stella of the Blessed Sacrament who
was 54, Sister Imelda who was 50, Sister M Rajmunda who was 50, Sister Daniela who was
48, Sister Kanuta who was 47, 43 Year Old Sister Gwidona, Sister Sergia who was 42,
Sister Kanizja who was 39, 37 Year Old Sister Felicyta, Sister Heliodora who was 37, and
the youngest to be executed was 26 year old Sister Boromea who was 26.
The 11 sisters were later confirmed to have been martyrs who died in the name of the Catholic
faith, and Pope John Paul would later beatify them in 2000.
The story of the nuns of Nowogrodek was a tragic one in which 11 women gave their lives
to save others in the face of the evil nazi regime.
For some reason, the nazis decided to take the women’s offer and to take their lives
instead of some of the prisoners.
Their bravery was incredible, and the nuns were willing to sacrifice themselves for other
people, and their story is one which deserves to be told and remembered.
Thanks for watching
To support our channel, please make sure to subscribe
Once again thanks for watching