The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

54 The Marian Martyrs of Rosica the building was in flames. Nobody knew if the priest was in it, but probably he was. The second priest, Fr. George Kaszyra, was still in the church where he had also been detained. The Sisters asked the officers who were looking for him where the first priest had been taken. The officers responded by saying that they were the same as the priests, and that if the priests deserved to die, so did they and therefore they should be allowed into the church. The chief officer had driven away with Fr. Leszczewicz. The interpreter answered the Sisters: “We only shoot the bandits, not the good people.” To their question about where the priests were, he answered that Fr. Leszczewicz had gone to Bigusovo because he had asked to go there. But it was unlikely that he had left the Sisters and the people alone and had gone without saying a word. They were told that the other priest, Fr. Kaszyra, would come back at 6 o’clock. In fact, he did. His overcoat was full of dirt. Probably he had been interrogated in some base- ment. The Sisters calmed down a little when he came back. They wanted to know what the soldiers had asked him. He answered that he would prefer not to say anything because the Sisters too might be interrogated, and if they knew what he had said, it would be even worse for them. His first words after he came back were: “This is all a lie. Nobody is going to the camp. Everybody must die.” He asked the Sisters three times if they were ready to die. The next morning, he wanted to say Holy Mass once more, but he could not get into the sacristy because Fr. Leszczewicz had had the key in his pocket. Then he said that he would go at 10 o’clock and then the Sisters would go at 11. However, he went in the afternoon. On that day, many more soldiers arrived and there were the biggest fires. The officers advised the priest to take something to eat with him, just in case, because he would go with the others to the camp. The Sisters also wanted to give him some underwear and food for Fr. Leszczewicz, but the officers repeated several times that he didn’t need anything and he would receive every- thing from the government. The Sisters concluded from this