The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF PRIEST’S HEROISM FR. STANISLAUS ZDANOWICZ As a seminarian, I was a student in Vilnius with Fr. Kaszyra. He was a seminarian whom everyone liked. He was humble. He never had any conflicts with anyone. In 1936, the two of us went from Vilnius to Landwarow to hear confessions. When we arrived, there were only a few people in the church, so it seemed as if there would be little to do. But, when Fr. Kaszyra sat down in the confessional, people felt something and confessions lasted all day long. He was very fond of listening to confessions, and he took a long time for each penitent. In 1940, I met Fr. Kaszyra in the Marian monastery in Samogitian Calvary — Zemajciu Kalwaria. Expecting depor- tation or imprisonment, he copied the text of the “Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary” ( De Beata ) from the Missal. He car- ried the pieces of paper with him and was learning the text by heart, so he would be able to celebrate Holy Mass in prison or in exile. He had a foreboding that something tragic was com- ing. In 1943, I learned from Mr. Euzebiusz Lopacinski, a landowner and art historian, of the death of Fr. Kaszyra by burning. According to this gentlemen, Fr. Kaszyra had an opportunity to run away, but he didn’t want to abandon the peo- ple.