Henryk Hilchen (1881–1956)
Henryk Hilchen (born 30 July 1881, died 20 August 1956) was a Polish Roman Catholic clergyman and social activist[1]. He combined legal education with priestly ministry – he obtained a doctorate in political and economic sciences while simultaneously serving as a vicar and parish priest in various parishes[2]. From 1919 he was a member of the Warsaw City Council, and for his social merits he received the Gold Cross of Merit in 1937 and the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1938[3]. Among other functions, he served as the parish priest of the Our Lady of Częstochowa parish in Wola (1931–1945)[4]. After the war he carried out pastoral work in the Gniezno diocese – first as parish priest in Międzyrzecz (1945–1947) and in Słupsk (1947–1952)[5]. In 1952 he received a nomination to become parish priest in Tarczyn near Grójec, but he did not take up the position due to progressing paralysis and a stroke[6]. He died in Warsaw on 20 August 1956 and was buried at Warsaw’s Powązki Cemetery[7].
Childhood
Henryk Hilchen was born on 30 July 1881 in Warsaw to the family of Teodor and Józefa née Wężyk-Rudzka[8]. He was the third of their five children – one of his younger brothers was Feliks Hilchen[9]. In his youth Hilchen attended a classical gymnasium in Kielce, and later a commercial high school in Warsaw[10]. After completing secondary school in 1901, he began studies at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Warsaw University of Technology, but after several years he transferred to the Lwów Polytechnic[11]. He continued his studies there until 1905, when—due to participation in school strikes—he left to study in Western Europe[12]. In 1905 Hilchen began further studies at the University of Fribourg (Freiburg) in Switzerland, where he switched to the Faculty of Law and Economics. In 1908 he earned a doctorate in political and economic sciences there[13]. At the same time he studied Thomistic philosophy, deepening his theological and philosophical knowledge. During his studies Henryk Hilchen was active in student organizations – he belonged, among others, to the Union of Students of the Warsaw University of Technology, the Mutual Aid Society at the Lwów Polytechnic, and was active in the student fraternities “Filarecja” and “Sarmatia” in Fribourg[14]. He also studied law at the University of St. Petersburg, where he co-founded the Polish Academic Corporation Sarmatia[15]. This period gave him broad humanistic and legal knowledge and shaped his fervent religious spirit.
Mature Years
In 1910 Hilchen returned to Poland and entered the Theological Seminary in Warsaw. He was ordained a priest on 21 December 1912, after which he worked as a vicar in several parishes of the Warsaw archdiocese (including in Dobre near Stanisławów, in Łowicz, and in Łódź)[16]. After the outbreak of World War I, he also served in organizational roles: in 1916–1917 he was the general secretary of the Association of Christian Workers and editor of its periodical Pracownik Polski (“The Polish Worker”)[17]. In 1919 he was elected a councilor of the Capital City of Warsaw – he held a mandate in the city’s Municipal Council[18]. At the same time he was chaplain of the Artillery Cadet School in Sołacz in Poznań and editor of the periodical Przewodnik Społeczny (“Social Guide”)[19]. From 1920 to 1922 he studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (“Angelicum”) in Rome[20]. There he became the confessor of Archbishop Achille Ratti (the future Pope Pius XI) and received the dignity of honorary papal chamberlain at the instruction of the Holy See[21]. After returning to Poland in 1922 he continued pastoral and academic work. In 1929 he became parish priest of the parish of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Leszno near Błonie, and from 1931 until the outbreak of World War II he was the parish priest of this parish already in Warsaw. During his time in Warsaw he oversaw the completion of the construction of a new parish church[22]. Owing to his social and charitable work he gained recognition from the authorities – in 1937 he received the Gold Cross of Merit, and in 1938 he was decorated with the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. In 1938 he was again elected to the Warsaw Municipal Council, which testified to his strong engagement in local affairs[23]. From the beginning of the German occupation in 1939 Hilchen was one of the 12 hostages presented to the German authorities based on the act of Warsaw’s capitulation – he was to guarantee adherence to the agreement between the city authorities and the occupiers[24]. Before the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising he agreed to hide part of the valuable Old Polish documents from the Central Archives of Historical Records in the tower of his church, thanks to which they survived wartime destruction[25]. These actions already during the war brought him closer to several important social and historical matters of the city, though they were not yet explicitly connected with rescuing Jews.
Context of Rescuing Jews
During the German occupation in Warsaw, the situation of the Jewish population was tragic – in 1940 the Warsaw Ghetto was established, where several hundred thousand Jews were confined. In these circumstances many Catholic clergymen recognized that one must help fellow human beings regardless of their origin. The Church officially called in sermons and ecclesiastical discourse for assistance to those in need, including Jews[26]. In practice, various kitchens for the poor, aid centers, and children’s day rooms were opened in Warsaw, sometimes also serving fugitives from the ghetto. Hilchen, as parish priest of the parish of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Wola, joined these initiatives. He ran a parish kitchen which, already at the beginning of the war, served around 2,000 meals a day, also for Jews remaining on the Aryan side of Warsaw[27]. As part of the school-based St. Michael’s Caritas, food, clothing, and medicines were also collected for Jews – Hilchen was one of those coordinating such charitable efforts. These activities placed him within a broader context of interpersonal aid: helping Jews was referred to as a duty of Christian mercy, which also drew many other Warsaw priests to the issue[28]. Hilchen carried out his activities cautiously, yet consistently and without unnecessary ostentation, aware of the risk of being exposed by German security services.
Description of Henryk Hilchen’s Rescue of Jews
Henryk Hilchen undertook various forms of individual assistance to Jews escaping from the ghetto. According to witness accounts and documents, he, among other things, supplied Jewish fugitives with false documents[29]. For example, he allied himself with a Polish family (the aunts of Alicja Prusicka) and, after meeting them in the courthouse building on Leszno, gave them copies of death certificates of deceased parishioners, which enabled the issuance of “Aryan” papers for fugitives[30]. After escaping from the ghetto, Hilchen helped Alicja Prusicka find work as a servant for a German family – he provided personal recommendations that protected her from rapid exposure or accusations of lacking proper papers[31]. Later, in 1943, when the situation became even more dangerous, Hilchen sent Alicja—with her consent—to the State Home for Infants in Warsaw, arranging shelter for her under a changed identity. The effect of his assistance was long-term – the woman avoided arrest and ultimately survived the war thanks to his support.
Another example is the help given to a young Jewish woman, Eugeniusia Kulczycka. According to her later memoirs, Hilchen helped her leave Warsaw by presenting her as his Christian acquaintance. He recommended her for a position as a housekeeper. Thanks to this, her Jewish identity remained undisclosed[32]. For several years the owner of the estate treated Eugenia as “Hilchen’s servant,” giving her full shelter despite the danger. Hilchen also informed her (already after the war) that he had helped in this situation and that she could rely on safety – his name on the letter of recommendation allowed her to survive the hardest years of the occupation[33]. Beyond the above examples, Hilchen continually facilitated aid to many Jews in hiding. He organized and ran day rooms for orphans and children working in the ghetto, in which Jewish children also stayed, providing them with meals and education[34].
Hilchen paid a personal price for his involvement. There is an account of a church employee who discovered his assistance to Jews and notified the police authorities[35]. Hilchen knew the risk, and thus remained cautious, yet despite the danger he continued his efforts. Hilchen’s actions are confirmed by numerous sources – from personal recollections of Jews he rescued to historical publications. This attests to his courage and selflessness. The described cases represent only a fragment of the much broader aid provided by the Warsaw Church, which he supported extensively.
Later Life of the Hero
After the end of World War II, Henryk Hilchen continued his pastoral work. Until July 1945 he still formally served as parish priest in Wola[36]. He then moved to the Gniezno diocese, where he took over the parish in Międzyrzecz[37]. Already in October 1947 he moved to Pomerania – he organized the new parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Słupsk, where he oversaw pastoral ministry until 1952. In November 1952 he was nominated to become parish priest in Tarczyn near Grójec, but due to severe illness and paralysis he could not take up this office[38]. While traveling to Tarczyn, in January 1953 he suffered a massive stroke, which seriously limited his abilities. Hilchen died three years later – on 20 August 1956 in Warsaw, and he was buried in the Powązki Cemetery[39]. He left his diary and numerous notes from his pastoral work in the Church archives. After the war he also prepared extensive memoirs[40].
Awarding of the Title “Righteous Among the Nations”
In 2018 the Yad Vashem Institute of Remembrance and Mercy awarded Henryk Hilchen the honorary title of “Righteous Among the Nations”[41][42]. This recognition was made possible thanks to a collection of testimonies of surviving Jews and documents that confirmed his merit in rescuing Jewish people during the Nazi occupation. The awarding of the title highlights that Hilchen – despite personal risk – made decisions to extend help out of purely humanitarian motives.
References
[1][2][3][4][7][16][17][18][19][20][22][23][36][39][40] Szymański Józef, Sprawozdanie ks. dr. Henryka Hilchena z pracy wśród robotników polskich we Francji w czasie tygodni letnich 1924 roku; https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/abmk/article/view/12295
[5][6][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][24][25][37][38] Henryk Hilchen; https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryk_Hilchen
[21] A. Zięba Andrzej, Administracja Apostolska Łemkowszczyzny w świetle dokumentów polskiego Ministerstwa Wyznań Religijnych i Oświecenia Publicznego z lipca 1939 r.; РІЧНИК РУСКОй БУРСЫ
[26][27][28][34] Antysemici czy sprawiedliwi?; https://www.idziemy.pl/kosciol/antysemici-czy-sprawiedliwi/85
[29][42] Wartime Rescue of Jews by the Polish Catholic Clergy. The Testimony of Survivors and Rescuers, Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL 2023.
[30][31][35] Centrum Badań nad Zagładą Żydów; https://getto.pl/pl/Osoby/H/Hilchen-Henryk
[32][33] Edmund Mazur, Po prostu człowiek; https://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media/texts/palestra/1968-tom-12-numer-11131/palestra-r1968-t12-n11131-s65-104.pdf
[41] Righteous Among the Nations Honored by Yad Vashem by 1 January 2024; https://wwv.yadvashem.org/yv/pdf-drupal/poland.pdf
External links
Szymański Józef, Sprawozdanie ks. dr. Henryka Hilchena z pracy wśród robotników polskich we Francji w czasie tygodni letnich 1924 roku; https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/abmk/article/view/12295
Henryk Hilchen; https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryk_Hilchen
A. Zięba Andrzej, Administracja Apostolska Łemkowszczyzny w świetle dokumentów polskiego Ministerstwa Wyznań Religijnych i Oświecenia Publicznego z lipca 1939 r.; РІЧНИК РУСКОй БУРСЫ
Antysemici czy sprawiedliwi?; https://www.idziemy.pl/kosciol/antysemici-czy-sprawiedliwi/8585/3/
Wartime Rescue of Jews by the Polish Catholic Clergy. The Testimony of Survivors and Rescuers, Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL 2023.
Centrum Badań nad Zagładą Żydów; https://getto.pl/pl/Osoby/H/Hilchen-Henryk
Edmund Mazur, Po prostu człowiek; https://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media/texts/palestra/1968-tom-12-numer-11131/palestra-r1968-t12-n11131-s65-104.pdf
Righteous Among the Nations Honored by Yad Vashem by 1 January 2024; https://wwv.yadvashem.org/yv/pdf-drupal/poland.pdf