Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

Wydarzen, ktére Wstrzgsnely Kosciolem XX Wieku (Poznani: Ksiegarnia Swietego Wojciecha, 2002), p. 63. > Olszewski, Dziesieé Wydarzen, p. 65. *© Olszewski, Dziesieé Wydarzen, p. 62. *” Piekarski, The Church in Poland, p. 73. *® Piekarski, The Church in Poland, p. 78. 173 against the persecution of Poles. The head of the Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland, Bishop Juliusz Bursche, refused to comply when commanded to leave Poland, and died in a concentration camp. The Roman Catholic Churches drew closer to the Catholic masses, leading to an increase in authority” similar to the situation during the later fall of the Communist government. At this critical time, a spirit of patriotism led people toward the Roman Catholic Church. Continued Worship and Christian Unity during the War The outbreak of World War II limited, but did not stop, the activities of Baptist churches in Poland. In May 1940, German authorities issued a decree forbidding meetings of unregistered religious groups, including Baptists. Yet believers remained active in church life. Services were still held in church buildings and private homes. Children attended Sunday schools. Social work for needy people continued, and literature and food were sent to the concentration camps. Because of the desperate situation, the churches did not grow; many members were arrested or sent to German labour camps. Aleksander Kircun, President of the Polish Baptist Union, summarized that period as follows: For example, from over one hundred members in a church in Warsaw, only fourteen were left in 1945. Many people were shot and many died in the Warsaw Revolt and in concentra- tion camps. Many of the members died in other situations, like Aleksy Horny, who was killed by a mine. We also had many material things lost. A chapel and a house at 46 Wolska Street in Warsaw were burnt. Many of the church archives were destroyed... But still we held services, and even through it was forbidden, we organized short courses for preachers and youth conferences. The ministry of the church took on a different character than before the war. Christians had one main goal: to help the hurting to survive the difficult time by offering physical and spiritual assistance.” Members of Baptist churches still tried to help others. Those in the villages ~ *° Piekarski, The Church in Poland, p. 80. 0 “Zanim doszio do budowy...’; Slowo Prawdy, no. 9 (1961), p. 9. 174 delivered food to those in the cities, and took their children for vacations in the summers. Others visited the sick in homes and hospitals. Worship was understood as serving God inside as well as outside church walls. Polish Baptists assisted Poles and Jews who were running away from the Germans. They also helped Jews in the ghetto. It was recorded that in Radosé, the Baptists hid the mother of Marian Spychalski, a marshal of Poland and a minister of defence, at a Baptist home. Ada