Astounding Revelations of Persecution in Poland

The Vatican Radio has three times broadcast astounding revelations of the nature of the persecution of the Church in the part of Poland occupied by Germany.
It is believed that many of these facts have been brought to the notice of Cardinal Hlond, Primate of Poland, by a Polish priest recently escaped from Poland, and they confirm the worst fears of the Cardinal.
The Cardinal, it is said, had the document drawn up, and copies were sent to the Vatican Radio, to the Cardinal Secretary of State and the General of the Jesuits, who is a Pole.
The CATHOLIC HERALD is able to give remarkable extracts from the text of an interview with the priest whose report, it is believed, formed the basis of Cardinal Illond's document.
The extracts given below refer only to the treat moo of the clergy in the Archdiocese of Gniezo and Poznan, the See of the Cardinal Primate, Further extracts referring to the suppression of religion and the treatment of the laity in the same diocese and in others will be given next week.
In the Archdiocese of Gniezno and Poznan (the diocese of Cardinal Hlond) the majority of the clergy have been arrested, the greater number of the churches are closed, all parish registera have been conascated, all church property is burdened by regulations, statues destroyed, public worship restricted.
Priests Executed
Many priests have been executed on insignificant pretexts. Among the killed were : Fr. Jadrzyk, parish priest, from Lechlin, under the pretext that he did not defend the Germans whom the Polish army punished for treachery.
Fr. Nizkiewlez, parish priest, from Saboszewo, for arranging a chapel in a legally obtained building, a previous German school.
Fr. Rolski (a seventy-six-year-old Dean) and his curate, Fr. Wladimir Nowlcki, from Czczepanowo, for revenge because German spies whom the priests did not shield were shot by Polish soldiers.
Fr. Janke, parish priest, from Jaktorowo, whose body was found in a potato field near Gniezno, Fr. Jakubowski, curate, from I3ydgoszcz, who was ordered to watch the mass execution at the market place. When this act caused a nervous shock which resulted in loud condemnation of the crime, he was beaten with the butt ends of carbines and later shot.
Frs. Szurck and Wiorek (miseionaries), during a mass execution on a Bydgoszcz market place. Twenty Poles lost their lives because one German was shot. The condemned were fired at on the steps of a church which previously belonged to the Jesuits.
In Concentration Camps
Many priests were arrested in the districts of Znin, Szubin, Wrzesnia, Wyrzysk and Mogilno. A number were taken for manual road labour. Others were thrown into prison, for example, Frs. Hoffman and Dobrzynski, from Znin, Frs. Lapka and Michalski, from Janowiec, imprisoned at Znin. Others again are transferred to Minsk Mazewiecki, near Warsaw, for example, Fr. Wilhelm, from Cerekwica, Fr. Wnuk, from Gasawa, Fr. Marlewski, from Gore, Fr. Prefect Wisnicwski and Fr. Szmelter, from Znin.
There are eighty-nine priests in the concentration camp at Gorna Grupa (Pomorze).
Shortly after the fall of Bydgoszcz, five thousand men, among whom were several priests and monks, were closeted in a stable at the barracks.
The throng was immense. There was so little space that only standing was possible. For six weeks they were detained there. At night one practically reclined on another.
Sanitary conditions were beyond description, no latrines being available. One corner of the stable was assigned for this purpose. The duty of making order in the latrine was allotted to Canon Stepczynski and a certain Jew, who were obliged with their bare hands to carry out the filth. "Du Schwein, hier muss roan arbeiten," said the Prussian guard to the aged priest.
When a certain young priest offered to replace the Canon, he was unmercifully beaten with the butt ends of rifles.
Washing of Corpses
At Torun the Redernptorist Fathers were held captives in a synagogue, where they had to undress and wash decomposed corpses. This work lasted a day and a night. When the monks fainted they were beaten relentlessly.
Early in October, in Logienno, Fr. Nawrot, undressed, barefooted, only trousers being allowed, was led through the village for the purpose of encouraging jeers and abuses from the soldiers, who shouted " Du Kerl, komm hien" A prison warden at Gniezno entered a cell of a certain priest and said, "Jetzt werden Sic erschossen." After the priest had dressed himself he was told to change his cell for another, " jetzt konnen Ste schIafen gehen."
Monasteries and Convents
Salesian Fathers—Noviciate closed down.
Franciscan Fathers.--Driven out from Gniezno. The same conditions as Pakosc.
Fathers of Holy Ghost at Bydgoszcz.— The monastery and school apprehended and transformed into a German police station. The church was closed down.
Elisabethan Sisters. — Up to the present twenty-two convents belonging to the congregation have been seized.
At Bydgoszcz, in the suburbs of Szwederowo and °kola the Sisters were obliged to vacate their home in ten minutes and were forbidden even to take their own clothing. The nuns were withdrawn from the city hospital on December 1. The Sisters had no way out but to dress in secular clothes and return to their families. The nuns were replaced by new arrivals from Germany, " Hitlerschwester."
Sisters of Mercy, St. Vincent de Paul's.—At Poznan the large hospital of the Transfiguration of Our Lord was seized. In the Cracow province six convents were closed down.
The Servants of Mary.—Up to date seven convents, property of the congregation, have been confiscated : at Gdynia, Inowroeaw, Mogilno, Witkowo, Gniezno, Seamotuy, Zernikt. Nuns, together with seventy small orphans, were transferred from Gdynia (Oksysvie) to a small village near Mordy, between Warsaw and Siedice. Here in a school building having no window panes, due to war activities, all were accommodated. No heat and no food were provided. The residents here are also poverty-stricken.