The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

52 The Marian Martyrs of Rosica tion of the Germans, they behaved rudely. The priests were chased out of their rooms and had to stay in the office. All the Sisters were driven into the church. Later, Fr. Leszczewicz man- aged to obtain at least the release of one Sister as a housekeep- er. Then a German officer of higher rank allowed all seven Sisters to come from the church to the rectory; but when one of the soldiers tried to lead them out of the church, Latvian soldiers forced them back in. Finally, the German officer went himself and let the Sisters out. Fr. Leszczewicz told them to work as hard as they could. They cooked for the officers and for the people in the church. They baked one batch of bread after the other, carrying it to the people in the church and sup- plying it to the staff. The staff officers began to drink so heav- ily that the priests refused to let the Sisters go in to serve them. Instead, they did it themselves. The priests came and went freely to the church. There they calmed the people, brought them food and water, delivered sermons, baptized, and contin- uously listened to confessions. Many Orthodox accepted the Catholic Faith. The soldiers told the people that they would be sent to a camp later. In the meantime, however, they were being held because everything had to be burned to make it impossible for the partisans to dig in again. Thus, the priests passed the entire night ministering to the people. The next day, the soldiers selected the young and stronger persons, mainly women, since the men were all taken away by the partisans, and drove away with them, allegedly to a camp. In reality, they were sent to work. At that time, it became obvious to everyone that those who remained were going to die. People even more eagerly crowded around the priests for confession and baptism up until, finally, the punitive expedition arrived. The soldiers were sent further into the dense forests beyond Rosica to fight against the partisans. The Latvian cart drivers, meanwhile, were occupied only with robbery. They stole every- thing in the Sisters’quarters. They took all the bedding and other things. They loaded their carts full of stolen goods. In the