Józef Kowalski (priest)

Blessed Józef Kowalski
Salesian priest Józef Kowalski Kowalski, the prisoner No. 17350 in Auschwitz concentration camp
Born	March 13, 1911 Siedliska, Poland
Died	July 4, 1942(1942-07-04) (aged 31) Auschwitz, Poland
Beatified	June 13, 1999, Warsaw, Poland by Pope John Paul II

Józef Kowalski (March 13, 1911 – July 4, 1942) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest from the Salesian Society killed at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. He was beatified in Warsaw on June 13, 1999.

Józef Kowalski was born in Siedliska (partitioned Poland) on March 13, 1911, to Wojciech and Zofia Borowiec; the seventh of their nine children. He was ordained a priest on May 29, 1938, in Kraków as member of the Salesian Religious Society, and took up a post of secretary to the Salesian provincial. During the German occupation of Poland the Salesians continued their educational work. The Gestapo arrested Kowalski on May 23, 1941, along with eleven other Salesians who worked in Kraków. They were taken to Montelupich Prison and tortured.

Kowalski was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp on June 26, 1941 (prisoner number 17,350 or 17,950). There, he ministered secretly to his fellow prisoners in Block 25, and attempted to strengthen their will to survive day-to-day life in the camp. He absolved condemned victims, usually in secret, but at least once in front of everyone at the moment of mass execution. He was known at Auschwitz simply as Father Józef. At one roll call, he was ordered by Schutzstaffel Gerhard Palitzsch to trample upon his rosary when he was discovered with it. Kowalski refused. As punishment, he was assigned to a penal company. In his last letter to his parents, Józef wrote:

Do not worry about me; I am in God's hands. I want to assure you that I feel His help at every step. Despite the present situation, I am happy and completely at peace.