Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

bidden to hold services in the Polish language. In September 1939, Poland was divided into two occupied territories: that of the Nazis and that of the Soviets. ? “Blogostawieni, ci ktérzy sq przesladowani’, Slowo Prawdy, no. 9 (September 1927), p. 5. * Interview with Wiodzimierz Jowko (b. 1909), Bialystok nursing home, 6 February 2002. *! Waldemar Gutsche, “Poczatek pracy w Polsce”; cited in Kluttig, Geschichte der deutschen Baptisten, p. 25. *? “Blogostawieni, ci ktérzy sq przesladowani’, p. 5. *° “Czterdziestolecie chéru bialostockiego’, pp. 8-9; Adam Gutsche, “Powojenny Baptyzm Polski’, Stowo Prawdy, no. 3 (March 1997), pp. 25-26. 172 The Germans sought to quench Polish religious organisations, both Catholic and Protestant. The most tragic situation was in the district of Poznan, where almost 97% of the places of worship were closed. About ninety ministers were arrested and taken abroad. But the Nazis did not close churches and seminaries everywhere. Hitler decided, rather, that the evangelical religion could remain, maintaining association with Germany, rather than centred in Poland itself.** In those tragic years for the Polish nation, the Roman Catholic Church served as a place of security for many people. The image of the suffering servant became vivid through the many lost and murdered Catholic cler- gymen. During the war, the Roman Catholic Church cooperated with the underground military organisation, which created a deeper connection with the Polish people.** Fascism became - as Communism did later - a serious threat to Polish churches of the twentieth century. Both Fascism and Communism aimed to destroy the church and subjected all church structures to the authority of their political systems. Poland had the greatest per capita loss of all countries involved in World War II. More than six million men, women and children were tortured and killed by the Nazis. In addition, many people were shot in mass execu- tions on the streets of cities and towns. Cultural, material and moral losses were innumerable. The large losses in lives and property were felt by all the churches and faiths in Poland - Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish. Victims included Catholic bishops, priests, monks and nuns; Protestant pastors; and Orthodox priests.” The destruction of the clergy in Poland was the result of Hitler's decision to exterminate the Polish intelligentsia.” In Poland, the war affected the entire social life of the country, including its economy, religion and polit- ical system. Between 1939 and 1945, about 836 religious ministers died in prisons and concentration camps. Nazis issued orders obstructing religious practice by the Polish population. Hymnbooks, prayer books, Bibles and other books were removed.* Many Christians of all denominations took a patriotic stand. Catholic Archbishop Adam Sapieha, Metropolitan of Krakow, consistently protested ** Daniel Olszewski, Dziesie¢