The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

CHAPTER EIGHT EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT FROM THE NOOK NEAR THE ALTAR OF THE MOTHER OF GOD JULIA BOBOK, KRZYWOSIELCE My brother Victor, born in 1927, belonged to the partisans, and he urged our mother to save herself by running into the for- est with us, her three children. This is what we did. Many oth- ers did too. They ran away to Latvia or to neighborhoods that were free of partisans. People knew about the imminent danger, but Mother stayed at home with us. On February 16, 1943, a group of mothers, children, and old people were rounded up by soldiers and herded toward Rosica, 20 kilometers away. Some were riding in carts, others were walking. During the march, a German officer allowed us to bake some potatoes for the chil- dren. When we were led into the church in Rosica, we heard loud wailing, crying, and lamenting. We found a nook for our- selves by the altar of the Mother of God. The priests, Anthony Leszczewicz and George Kaszyra, were also in the church with us. They were celebrating Holy Mass, giving Holy Communion, listening to confessions, baptizing children, blessing and calming people in despair, and distributing bread among the children. They were supported in this by the Handmaids of Jesus in the Eucharist who had earlier been teaching religion. At one moment, when one of the priests was celebrating Holy Mass, shooting erupted. The priest did not stop, and he did not leave the altar. He prayed and continued to celebrate the most holy Sacrifice. The soldiers started to separate us into groups: the right side of the church — to camp, the left side — for burning. A police- man hit my mother with a rifle and threw her over to the group for burning. A German soldier lifted Mother, who was bleed-