A CARD FROM THE CALENDAR - FR. ANTONI UDALSKI
This is how Janina Smolińska (née Chlebowicz) recalls Fr. Udalski: “he made a great contribution to the city and its inhabitants. He was giving weddings to the poor for free and helping them materially. He was also a military chaplain with the rank of major. He was always taking part in military parades and organising writing and reading classes for illiterate soldiers”. He ministered in the Wołożyn parish throughout the interwar period. He didn’t abandon his congregation when the World War II broke out. He was helping and supporting others as well as granting false certificates to Jews giving them evidence of the Christian religion. In 1941, due to suspicions of helping Jews, he was forced to move to the parish in Sołeczniki. However, he didn’t manage to escape his fate. The Lithuanian police arrested him. They kept him in prison in Vilnius for some time and finally executed him. People who were involved in helping Jews were arrested and shot together with Fr. Udalski.
