Wojciech Bartosik (1894–1984)
Wojciech Bartosik (born April 23, 1894, died 1984) was a Polish Catholic priest and long-time parish priest in Wawrzeńczyce (Małopolska Province). He gained fame as an activist who helped Jews during World War II[1][2]. After the war, he remained a priest in his parish for many years, and in 2014 he was posthumously honored with the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli Yad Vashem Institute[3].
Childhood and adolescnce
Wojciech Bartosik was born in 1894 in Roków, in what was then Galicia (Wadowice County)[4]. He came from a farming family. As a young man, he studied theology at the Faculty of Theology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow[5]. After graduating, he was ordained a priest in 1917[6]. In the first years after his ordination, he served as a curate, working, among others, as a vicar in the parishes of Gdów and Siepraw[7]. In time, he was sent to the parish in Zakliczyn (Tarnów County) as administrator after the death of the previous parish priest. His work in the Zakliczyn parish lasted until the beginning of 1922[8].
Adult age
As an adult, Wojciech Bartosik took over his own parish. He was appointed parish priest in Wawrzeńczyce (Igołomia-Wawrzeńczyce municipality, Miechów county)[9]. He led it continuously for over three decades, until his retirement in 1964[10]. During those years, the parish in Wawrzeńczyce was first located in the Second Polish Republic, then during the German occupation and in the difficult period of post-war Poland. Bartosik became one of the most recognizable local pastors – his long service earned him the respect of both parishioners and local church authorities. An entry in his obituary from 1984 emphasizes that he died as a retired priest after 67 years of priesthood[11].
Context of saving Jews
During World War II, the village of Wawrzeńczyce found itself in the brutal reality of German occupation. Jews from Krakow and the surrounding area began to be moved to the municipality, especially after the repressions related to the uprising in the Krakow ghetto. Historical research has shown that between 1940 and 1941, over a hundred Jews displaced by the Germans from Krakow were brought to Wawrzeńczyce[12]. Unlike in larger cities, no ghetto was established in the rural areas of the Wawrzeńczyce commune – Jews lived here among their Polish neighbors until their deportation in the fall of 1942[13]. The typical scenario for southern Małopolska was the final destruction of these communities as part of the extermination campaign carried out by the occupiers in the fall of 1942. However, some Jews had already tried to escape by hiding in the countryside. Many of them encountered varying responses from Poles – some helped, others remained indifferent, and there were also cases of denunciation[14]. In such conditions, the activities of people such as Father Bartosik took on a tragic dimension, because any help given to Jews was fraught with the mortal threat of punishment by the Germans.
Activities for Jews
As the parish priest of Wawrzeńczyce, Wojciech Bartosik provided real help to Jews hiding in the area. The memoirs of survivor Róża Reibscheid (Bauminger) describe how, as early as 1940, when Jews removed from Krakow at his request ended up in Wawrzeńczyce, Bartosik showed them great kindness[15]. He recommended them to the Buchowski family, landowners in the area. Włodzimierz Buchowski hired her husband (Marian Reibscheid) as a mechanic and tractor driver, while his wife employed her wife (Roza) as a seamstress[16]. Thanks to this, the Reibscheids were able to hide their Jewish identity from the villagers.
Father Bartosik also organized other forms of support. Aware of the mortal danger, he performed symbolic baptisms of those in hiding, formally accepting them into the “Christian” community – he himself later emphasized that this was done solely to save lives[17]. He provided them with food and means of subsistence, as well as decent employment and appropriate entries in the parish registers[18]. When, in the summer of 1942, the Germans began mass resettlements in the area, Bartosik organized further hiding for the Reibscheids – he found them shelter with a wealthy neighbor, a landowner[19][20]. The Bukowski family (Włodzimierz, his sister Helena, and his sister-in-law) saved the couple from being discovered by the occupiers.
Thanks to Bartosik's help, none of the people in hiding died directly in Wawrzeńczyce. The Reibscheids' situation only became complicated in September 1942, when the German police began rounding people up. However, even then, thanks to the vigilance of the residents, they managed to escape from their temporary hiding places[21]. This example illustrates the scale
The further fate of Bartosik
After the war, Wojciech Bartosik returned to his duties in Wawrzeńczyce. Despite the difficult post-war period (communist repression of the Church), he remained parish priest until 1964, when he retired[22]. In retirement, he lived as a resident priest (still in the Krakow area), continuing his modest priestly ministry in the parish. He died on November 17, 1984, as a 90-year-old retired priest[23][24][25]. His funeral took place on November 21, 1984[26]. Until the end of his life, he retained his reputation as a man devoted to his parishioners and remembered in the accounts of surviving Jewish families as a kind and discreet person.
Bestowal of the Righteous Among the Nations title
In recognition of his heroic rescue of Jews, Father Wojciech Bartosik was posthumously awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations. The Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem awarded him this distinction on January 14, 2014[27]. This decision was made on the basis of research into archival documents and witness accounts, among which the memories of those who were rescued (including the story of Róża Reibscheid) played a key role[28][29]. Bartosik was among seven Poles honored that day – in addition to him, members of the Bukowski family and Jadwiga Goetel, who helped the Reibscheid family during the war, were also honored[30]. The awarding of the title to Wojciech Bartosik emphasized the historical significance of his attitude among the local community and recognized his actions on the international stage.
Footnotes
[1][28] Proboszcz parafii Wawrzeńczyce, wspomagał żydów uciekających z getta; https://pamiecitozsamosc.pl/proboszcz-parafii-wawrzenczyce-wspomagal-zydow-uciekajacych-z-getta
[2][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][22][24] Mysiński Aleksander, Dzieje parafii pw. Wszystkich Świętych w Zakliczynie k. Myślenic; https://parafiazakliczyn.pl/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/mysinski.pdf
[3][17][18][19][21][27][30] Church Rescue in Poland- Part 2; https://www.holocaustrescue.org/church-rescue-in-poland-part-2
[11][23][26] Ś. P. Ks. Wojciech Bartosik w wieku 90 i w 67 roku kapłaństwa odszedł po nagrodę do Pana; https://www.jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/dlibra/publication/876781/edition/847110
[12][13][14] Swałtek-Niewińska Dagmara, Zagłada Żydów z Wawrzeńczyc w czasie II wojny światowej w świetle akt gminnych; https://www.profil-archeo.pl/zaglada-zydow-z-wawrzenczyc-w-czasie-ii-wojny-swiatowej-w-swietle-akt-gminnych/
[15][16][20][29] Róża Reibscheid, the fate of a Jewish family hiding on "Aryan papers" in Krakow and Warsaw; https://early-testimony.ehri-project.eu/document/EHRI-ET-ZIH3011713
[25] Internetowy Kurier Proszowski; https://www.24ikp.pl/skarby/ludzie/zwykli/b/bartosik_wojciech/druk.php
External links
Proboszcz parafii Wawrzeńczyce, wspomagał żydów uciekających z getta; https://pamiecitozsamosc.pl/proboszcz-parafii-wawrzenczyce-wspomagal-zydow-uciekajacych-z-getta
Church Rescue in Poland- Part 2; https://www.holocaustrescue.org/church-rescue-in-poland-part-2
Mysiński Aleksander, Dzieje parafii pw. Wszystkich Świętych w Zakliczynie k. Myślenic; https://parafiazakliczyn.pl/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/mysinski.pdf
Ś. P. Ks. Wojciech Bartosik w wieku 90 i w 67 roku kapłaństwa odszedł po nagrodę do Pana; https://www.jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/dlibra/publication/876781/edition/847110
Swałtek-Niewińska Dagmara, Zagłada Żydów z Wawrzeńczyc w czasie II wojny światowej w świetle akt gminnych; https://www.profil-archeo.pl/zaglada-zydow-z-wawrzenczyc-w-czasie-ii-wojny-swiatowej-w-swietle-akt-gminnych/
Róża Reibscheid, the fate of a Jewish family hiding on "Aryan papers" in Krakow and Warsaw; https://early-testimony.ehri-project.eu/document/EHRI-ET-ZIH3011713
Internetowy Kurier Proszowski; https://www.24ikp.pl/skarby/ludzie/zwykli/b/bartosik_wojciech/druk.php