The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

38 The Marian Martyrs of Rosica was driven to the railway station in Bigosovo. Some of the bod- ies had no heads. According to testimony known today, soon after the paci- fication, inhabitants of Rosica, who had earlier managed to run away to the partisans in the forest, dragged the bodies that were not completely burned to a cellar in the middle of the yard. The entrance to the cellar was then covered with dirt and stones that had been salvaged from the foundation of the burned house. PLACE OF MARTYRDOM VENERATED After the war ended in 1945, this mass grave-cellar was given a somewhat more regular shape, and women used to go there to pray. They also lit candles and planted flowers, but they were soon forced to stop. Not until 1987 was a memorial estab- lished to the victims of the tragedy, including symbolic ashes from many execution sites. It was erected near the main road; some earth from this mass grave was also carried there. However, it is certain that in the mounded cellar on the Hadziuk property, the bones of Fr. George Kaszyra and the people who were burned with him are still resting. It is their collective grave. In September of 1992, the canonization tribunal from Warsaw arrived in Rosica. They discussed the necessity of arranging this site with the pastor, Fr. A. Los, delegate of the Archbishop for the promotion of the cult of the Martyrs of Rosica, and with several laypeople. This work was accom- plished in the second half of October. Earth was brought in; the small area adjacent to the mass grave was levelled and neat- ened. A tall wooden cross was also erected and, on All Saints Day in 1992, it was blessed by Fr. Los in the presence of a mul- titude of inhabitants not only from Rosica but also from more remote villages. As a result, this place is a holy site again. Rev. Jan Bukowicz, MIC