The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

64 The Marian Martyrs of Rosica wrote a protocol certifying that six Sisters —R. Marcilonek, A. Moroz, A. Prytycka, J. Trubilo, K. Ugarenko, J. Wirszuto — were brought from Rosica to the convent in Druja in good health and given into the care of Mother Superior General. She had to sign the protocol, and then, with great joy and excite- ment, she welcomed those Sister missionaries who had been so nearly lost and now were found. All the Sisters in the house embraced our missionaries who had been so very tried and tor- mented and seemed doomed to die. Several weeks later, the same German officer came again, this time with a female secretary and a typewriter. Each Sister who had been brought from Rosica was summoned in her turn to the interview room. Then, in the presence of the Superior General, they were questioned. They were questioned especial- ly regarding: how long each had been in the convent; who had sent her to work to those areas; how long she had been working there. Of course, each Sister testified that it was the Mother Superior General who sent her to do the work. When the German officer and the secretary finished their investigation and wrote the protocols, they went away, announcing that they would return in a few weeks concerning the same matter. However, they never came again. They also asked about Fr. Leszczewicz, especially about what he was doing in those ter- ritories and whether he had any contacts with the partisans. A few days after they returned to Druja, our Sisters — some of the ones who had come back from Rosica — went back to that neighborhood, to the sites where the people had been burned, hoping to find someone they knew. They were trying to recognize the burned people by articles such as clothing but they did not have enough time. A German or Latvian patrol spotted them and chased them away, threatening to kill them if they ever came again. They said that all those people who had been killed were only bandits. When they came back, the Sisters described what they were able to see at the fire sites. Human skeletons were lying on the ground in rows, as if arranged, all with their heads in one direc- tion, necks outstretched, heads raised, skulls shining, gray in