The story of martyrdom of a Polish Jesuit Fr. Stanisław Michalski was brought out of oblivion right before the 70^th anniversary of his death. It happened thanks to a testimony of a Salesian priest from Belarus, Fr Artur Liashneuski, who says he found his vocation praying at the tomb of the Jesuit martyr. Fr Stanisław Michalski SJ died on Christmas day in 1950 at the age of 38 after he was severely beaten the day before by the members of “Komsomol” (the Communist youth organization).

The organist of the church of Wiszniewo where Fr. Stanisław was the parish priest since 1945, sent a note to the Jesuit superiors in Poland about the death of the priest, but he could not include the details because of the Soviet censorship. The Jesuit archives contained Fr. Michalski’s letter to the superiors in Poland in which, five years before his death, he selflessly asked to be able to remain in Belarus, on the territory of the Soviet Union, at the time when many other priests preferred to escape to Poland.

But only now the details of Fr. Michalski’s brutal death are brought into light, as the Salesian priest felt the urge to share what he knew from the members of his family, who were able to survive thanks to Fr. Michalski’s help after they were totally dispossessed as “kulaks” by the Soviet officials. There is yet some research to be made which will hopefully help discover other facts about our Jesuit brother’s heroic ministry in most dire circumstances. May his intercession help us carry on the mission which he sacrificed his life for.