January 1
Marian Konopiński (1907–1943)
Priest and martyr
Roman Martyrology
In the concentration camp at Dachau near Munich in Germany, Blessed Marian Konopiński, priest and martyr, Polish by origin, who died in the peace of Christ because of the atrocities inflicted upon him by physicians.
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Biography
(Polish: Marian Konopiński).
He was born at Kluczewo in Poland. In 1928 he entered the diocesan seminary of Gniezno and was ordained a priest in 1932. He was sent as curate to Ostrzeszów, where he also served as catechist at the teachers’ college. In 1935 he was sent as curate to the Church of Corpus Christi in Poznań and studied social sciences at the university there. In 1938 he was transferred as curate to Saint Michael’s parish in Poznań.
Arrested at the beginning of the war, he was interned in the prisoner-of-war camp at Hamburg and later transferred to the Dachau extermination camp. There he was used as a guinea pig in medical experiments, which caused a phlegmon that led to his death.
He was intelligent, honest and noble in character, and his dedication to pastoral ministry was admirable. He showed great patience and fortitude in the extremely harsh conditions of the concentration camp. John Paul II beatified him on 13 June 1999.