Józef Czapran (1893–1972)
Father Józef Czapran (born April 11, 1893 in Lviv, died May 31, 1972 in Gorzów Wielkopolski) – Polish Catholic priest, long-time parish priest of Gorzów Cathedral (1952–1963), awarded the title of “Righteous Among the Nations” (posthumously, in 2022). He graduated from the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv (first philology, then theology)[1]. He was ordained a priest on July 8, 1917, by Archbishop Józef Bilczewski[2]. Before World War II, he worked mainly in Lviv (including as a vicar in the parishes of Ternopil and Buchach)[3], and from 1928 as parish priest of St. Anthony's Parish in Lychakiv. In 1946, fleeing from the NKVD, he found himself in western Poland, where he served as parish priest of the cathedral parish in Gorzów until his retirement in 1963. He was also, among other things, an auditor of the Bishop's Court in Gorzów and a post-synodal judge[4]. As a pastor, he was known as a very cordial and cheerful man. His funeral in 1972 was attended by thousands of faithful and clergy – over 100 priests and 40 nuns walked in the procession[5]. During the post-war decades, he did not share information about his wartime deeds with his parishioners. Posthumously, he was honored with the title of “Righteous Among the Nations” for saving the Jewish Jampoler family during the war[6].
Childhood and adolescence
Józef Czapran was born into a Polish family in Lviv, a multicultural city in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria at the time. In the 1890s, Lviv had a population of around 330,000, of which almost 25% were Jews. Young Czapran completed primary and secondary school there; he passed his high school exams in 1912 and began studying at the Faculty of Philology at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv, only to transfer to the Faculty of Theology at the same university a year later[7]. He spent his childhood and early youth in pre-war Lviv, where numerous Catholic parishes were thriving. His upbringing, as in many Lviv families, was shaped by strong Catholicism and close contact with the Latin Church in the Archdiocese of Lviv. St. Józef Bilczewski (Metropolitan of Lviv) and other local clergy played an important role in this environment at the time. Shortly after graduating from high school, Czapran began his priestly formation. In 1917, he was ordained by Archbishop Bilczewski[8]. It is worth noting that even before the war, the young priest combined his interest in the humanities (philological studies) with his religious vocation, which made him popular among young people and colleagues. In his hometown of Lviv, he learned several languages (Polish, German, Ukrainian), which later facilitated his pastoral work.
Adult age
After his ordination, Fr. Czapran worked as a vicar in several parishes of the Archdiocese of Lviv, including Tarnopol and Buchach[9]. In 1928, he was appointed parish priest of St. Anthony's Parish in Lviv's Lychakiv district, where he served until the outbreak of war. In the 1930s, he was a highly regarded pastor: he co-organized parish life, celebrated numerous services, and taught catechism. Witnesses remembered him as a warm, charismatic, and extremely cordial priest. Czapran had a cheerful disposition, liked to joke and tell anecdotes, but above all, he was a zealous priest who prayed the rosary. On the eve of the war, his relationship with the Diocese of Lviv seemed to be going well: he was the pastor of a large parish (Łyczaków), collaborated with the seminary (he was often a confessor), and was active in courses for catechists. At the end of the 1930s, his parish also included the population living in the suburbs of Lviv, where anti-Semitic and nationalist sentiments were already intensifying. Czapran himself did not openly engage in politics, but as a pastor he tried to ease tensions between communities. In 1939, just before the German invasion, he had several years of priestly work behind him and was respected as an experienced parish priest.
Context of saving Jews
After German troops entered occupied Polish territory in 1939 and attacked the Soviet Union (June 22, 1941), the situation of Jews in the Zaolzie region was catastrophic. The Wehrmacht entered the territory of Eastern Małopolska, including Lviv, where in 1941 the German administration established a Jewish ghetto[10]. The Jewish community living in Lviv, numbering about 100,000 people in 1939, was subjected to severe repression (forced relocation to the ghetto, starvation, forced labor). At the same time, Poles and Jews faced death for the slightest help given to people of Jewish origin. In occupied Poland, the death penalty was officially imposed for hiding or supporting Jews[11]. In this situation, the Polish underground organized secret aid – among others, the Council for Aid to Jews “Żegota” (a unique organization established by the Polish government-in-exile) and other underground groups were active. Despite the mortal danger, thousands of Poles (including priests) helped Jews by providing false documents, shelter, and material assistance[12]. As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious city, Lviv was particularly dangerous – in addition to the Germans, Ukrainian nationalists and sometimes even local Poles posed a threat. However, before the war, Lviv was also a place of mutual contact, so in the current situation, some priests decided to take in Jews seeking refuge in their parishes. It should be emphasized that every such action (forging baptism or marriage certificates, hiding people in monasteries, helping them escape from the ghetto) was an act of great courage. As many as 1% of Poland's pre-war Jewish community (approximately 35,000 people) survived thanks to the help of Poles[13]. During those dramatic years, clergymen such as Józef Czapran became involved in a network of secret rescue operations, guided by the dictates of their conscience and the teachings of the Church.
Czapran's part in saving Jews
As parish priest of St. Anthony's Parish in Lviv's Lychakiv district, Czapran risked his life by helping the Polonized Jewish Jampoler family. During the occupation, the Germans established a ghetto in Lviv and ordered the local Jews to move there. Łucja Jampoler (known as Lucy), who was in hiding at the time, came to the priest for help, together with her son Karol and his wife Hanka – they were relatives and neighbors of the priest. Czapran set about forging documents. He issued Catholic baptism and marriage certificates to the Jampoler family, registering them as Polish-speaking Catholics[14]. Thanks to these documents, they all remained on the “Aryan” side of the city and avoided deportation to the ghetto. Polish sources emphasize that thanks to the priest, the Jampolers managed to “survive the occupation”[15]. Subsequent family accounts indicate that the parish priest also arranged for false documents for other relatives of the Jampolers, e.g., for Łucja's niece, Irena Stella Wilder (later saved as Christine Winecki) and for Karol and Hanka's infant son, little Andrzej, born in January 1942. Czapran not only printed birth certificates with new names, but even arranged for a nun to teach Irka Catholic rites and prayers so that her Jewish identity would not be easily recognizable[16].
After some time, the Jampolers' hiding place was discovered, forcing them to flee. In 1942, the entire family, including Irka, managed to escape from Lviv to Warsaw[17]. During the escape, the father of the family, Karol Jampoler, went missing and never returned. However, Father Czapran did not forget about the other members of the family – he continued to help them indirectly, for example by sending money, arranging leave from work for the mother and grandmother, and finding a safe place to hide the boy.
Thanks to Father Czapran's efforts, part of the Jampoler family survived the occupation. The children of this family – Andrzej (Andrew) and his cousin Irka – lived to see liberation and received pensions from the US and Australia. Czapran himself never spoke about these deeds aloud – he took his courage and discretion to his grave. However, the surviving Jampolers remembered him throughout their lives, and it was their efforts that brought the truth about his heroic actions to light only years later[18].
Czapran's further fate
After the war, Father Czapran found himself under proverbial double fire – from the Soviet communist secret police (NKVD) and the church authorities forcing clergy from the Eastern Borderlands to leave Lviv. As early as 1946, the communist security services took an interest in him, forcing the priest to flee his hometown[19]. As a displaced person, Czapran ended up in the Recovered Territories. For the next six years, he was the parish priest in Barlinek in Western Pomerania. At the same time, he taught catechism at the local school. In Barlinek, he gained the recognition of the local community as an active pastor and religion teacher.
On February 19, 1952, he was appointed to another important position – he became the provost of the Gorzów Cathedral in Lubusz Land[20]. For almost 12 years (until December 14, 1963), he led the cathedral parish in Gorzów Wielkopolski. As the host of the cathedral, he contributed to its renovation – he restored the traditional Catholic interior design with Polish ornaments and paintings of saints, which was important during a period of difficult relations between the state and the Church. During this time, he also held other responsible positions: from 1951, he was a judge of the Ecclesiastical Court and an auditor of the Bishop's Court in Gorzów. He was also a confessor at the local seminary and enjoyed great authority among the younger generation of priests. Throughout his pastoral ministry in the Western Territories, he gained a reputation as a kind and just priest, open to the needs of his parishioners.
Father Czapran retired in December 1963. However, he remained in Gorzów, where he continued to perform minor pastoral duties and was active as a senior member of the community. He died on May 31, 1972. His funeral in Gorzów Cathedral was attended by hundreds of faithful – the church was filled to capacity, and the funeral procession was one of the largest ever seen in the post-war parish of Gorzów. Many parishioners recalled that he was an extremely kind and friendly man, not only to the clergy but also to lay people. However, the secret of his wartime deeds remained unknown to the wider public for decades – only the survivors of his rescued family knew about it.
Bestowal of the “Righteous Among the Nations” title
It was not until the 21st century that the surviving members of the Jampoler family and their efforts to honor Father Czapran were discovered. The family, including Holocaust survivor Andrew Jampoler (who later served in the US Air Force) and his daughter Chrissy Houlahan (an American congresswoman), led to an application to the Yad Vashem Institute for the Remembrance of Martyrs and Heroes of the Holocaust in Jerusalem for recognition of his merits. After a long documentation process based on the testimonies of survivors and historians, on January 24, 2022, Yad Vashem decided to posthumously recognize Józef Czapran as Righteous Among the Nations[21]. The award ceremony was held on July 4, 2022, at the institute in Jerusalem, in the presence of three generations of the Jampoler family and representatives of the Polish side. The director of the Righteous Department at Yad Vashem emphasized the courage of the priest, who “risked his own life and that of his loved ones” to save others[22].
The honor was reported by Polish historical media and Catholic websites. The Diocese of Zielona Góra-Gorzów also officially commemorated the event. On March 19, 2025, in Jerusalem, Dr. Joel Zisenwine (director of the Department of the Righteous at Yad Vashem) presented Bishop Tadeusz Lityński with the award and medal for Fr. Czapran. The ceremony took place on the liturgical feast of St. Joseph, as Bishop Lityński pointed out that both patrons – Joseph the Betrothed and Fr. Czapran – saved lives that were in danger.
As part of the celebrations in Poland, a commemorative plaque honoring Father Czapran will be unveiled. The ceremony is scheduled for May 8, 2025 (the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II) at the cathedral in Gorzów, where a plaque dedicated to him has been placed on the side of the presbytery[23]. Many patriotic and family institutions in the US and Europe also called on local authorities to name one of the streets in Gorzów after him. The Jampoler family visited Poland in 2024, engaging in commemorative activities, including roll calls by the Jad Waszem Society in New York to honor the memory of “the Polish priest who stood up against inhuman cruelty.”[24]. These activities were covered in local publications of Gazeta Lubuska and in announcements by the clergy.
Footnotes
[1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9][20] Ks. Józef Czapran – nieznana historia kapłana, który ratował Żydów; https://www.ekai.pl/ks-jozef-czapran-nieznana-historia-kaplana-ktory-ratowal-zydow/
[6][14][15][19] Ks. Józef Czapran, Polak ze Lwowa – Sprawiedliwy wśród narodów świata; https://opoka.org.pl/News/Polska/2024/ks-jozef-czaprana-polak-ze-lwowa-sprawiedliwy-wsrod-narodow
[10] 22 czerwca 1941. Losy Żydów na Kresach po wybuchu wojny niemiecko-radzieckiej; https://www.jhi.pl/artykuly/22-czerwca-1941-losy-zydow-na-kresach-po-wybuchu-wojny-niemiecko-radzieckiej,670
[11][12][13] Decades after Holocaust, Poles still struggle with role, https://www.timesofisrael.com/decades-after-holocaust-poles-still-struggle-with-role/
[16][17][22] Polish Priest Recognized Posthumously as Righteous Among the Nations; https://www.jewishpress.com/news/jewish-news/holocaust/father-czapran-of-poland-posthumously-recognized-as-righteous-among-the-nations/2022/07/06/
[18][24] Bp Lityński odebrał tytuł Sprawiedliwy wśród Narodów Świata dla byłego proboszcza gorzowskiej katedry; https://www.tysol.pl/a137339-bp-litynski-odebral-tytul-sprawiedliwy-wsrod-narodow-swiata-dla-bylego-proboszczagorzowskiej-katedry
[21] Polski ksiądz pośmiertnie uznany za Sprawiedliwego wśród Narodów Świata; https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/swiat/polski-ksiadz-posmiertnie-uznany-za-sprawiedliwego-wsrod-narodow-swiata/xdj1pek
[22][23] Tytuł Sprawiedliwy wśród Narodów Świata dla śp. ks. Czaprana; https://diecezjazg.pl/tytul-sprawiedliwy-wsrod-narodow-swiata-dla-sp-ks-czaprana/
External links
Ks. Józef Czapran – nieznana historia kapłana, który ratował Żydów; https://www.ekai.pl/ks-jozef-czapran-nieznana-historia-kaplana-ktory-ratowal-zydow/
Ks. Józef Czapran, Polak ze Lwowa – Sprawiedliwy wśród narodów świata; https://opoka.org.pl/News/Polska/2024/ks-jozef-czaprana-polak-ze-lwowa-sprawiedliwy-wsrod-narodow
Bp Lityński odebrał tytuł Sprawiedliwy wśród Narodów Świata dla byłego proboszcza gorzowskiej katedry; https://www.tysol.pl/a137339-bp-litynski-odebral-tytul-sprawiedliwy-wsrod-narodow-swiata-dla-bylego-proboszczagorzowskiej-katedry
22 czerwca 1941. Losy Żydów na Kresach po wybuchu wojny niemiecko-radzieckiej; https://www.jhi.pl/artykuly/22-czerwca-1941-losy-zydow-na-kresach-po-wybuchu-wojny-niemiecko-radzieckiej,670
Decades after Holocaust, Poles still struggle with role, https://www.timesofisrael.com/decades-after-holocaust-poles-still-struggle-with-role/
Polish Priest Recognized Posthumously as Righteous Among the Nations; https://www.jewishpress.com/news/jewish-news/holocaust/father-czapran-of-poland-posthumously-recognized-as-righteous-among-the-nations/2022/07/06/
Polski ksiądz pośmiertnie uznany za Sprawiedliwego wśród Narodów Świata; https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/swiat/polski-ksiadz-posmiertnie-uznany-za-sprawiedliwego-wsrod-narodow-swiata/xdj1pek
Tytuł Sprawiedliwy wśród Narodów Świata dla śp. ks. Czaprana; https://diecezjazg.pl/tytul-sprawiedliwy-wsrod-narodow-swiata-dla-sp-ks-czaprana/
