Today, Germany is the largest and one of the most powerful countries in the European Union, both economically and politically. Its growing influence in European structures is often controversial, especially in the historical context. Some observers see in today’s actions of Germany a certain echo of the striving for domination that took place in the 20th century. It seems that Germany, aiming to strengthen its position, is trying to influence the politics and economy of Europe, which worries some of its neighbors, including Poland. We all know from the history of World War II their cruelty. Nazi Germany was responsible for the deaths of about 17 million people as a result of warfare, war crimes, genocide and extermination policy. These numbers include both victims of the Holocaust and other ethnic, political and national groups who fell victim to repression, mass executions, concentration camps and death camps. As a result of the Holocaust, about 6 million Jews were murdered. It was the result of systematic genocide carried out by the Nazis as part of the so-called „Final Solution of the Jewish Question” („Endlösung der Judenfrage”). Victims were mainly deported to extermination camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Sobibór and Bełżec. Of the Polish citizens, approximately 5-6 million people died, of whom: approximately 3 million Polish Jews died as a result of the Holocaust; approximately 2-3 million ethnic Poles were killed as a result of warfare, occupational repression, mass executions, pacification of villages and deportation to concentration camps. The Germans murdered approximately 7,000 clergy, including 3,000 from Poland alone.

As we know very well, during World War II, 2,579 Catholic clergy were imprisoned in the German concentration camp in Dachau alone, including 1,780 Poles. This camp, a symbol of Nazi terror, was the place of martyrdom for 868 of them. The persecution of the Church was part of the broader context of the Nazis’ fight against groups considered „ideological enemies”. The German regime, based on the cult of strength and totalitarian power, considered the Church a threat, because it played a key role in Polish society as a source of identity and resistance to the occupier. As already mentioned, it is estimated that around 3,000 Polish priests were killed by the Nazis during the occupation, both as a result of executions and because of the conditions in the concentration camps. A large number of clergy were arrested at the beginning of the war, because the Church in Poland was perceived by the Germans as an important center of patriotism and resistance to the occupier. As part of the repression, the clergy suffered particularly brutal repression as part of extermination actions such as Intelligenzaktion and Aktion AB.

Despite brutal repression, which included mass arrests, executions, and imprisonment of clergy in concentration camps, many of them, such as Father Maximilian Kolbe, showed unwavering heroism. Father Kolbe, who gave his life for a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz, became a symbol of the martyrdom of Polish clergy.
On the day of the liberation of the Dachau camp, April 29, 1945, there were 830 Polish priests among the 33,000 surviving prisoners. This day is commemorated as the Day of Martyrdom of the Polish Clergy, celebrated every year on April 29, as a symbol of the sacrifice and courage of the clergy in defense of faith and human dignity.
The Nazi fight against the Church was not limited to the clergy – it also included the destruction of churches, restrictions on religious worship, and repression of the faithful. However, the Church remained one of the pillars of resistance, also through aid to Jews and charitable activities.

Some victims of German crimes among the clergy:
Bishops:
Bl. Michał Kozal – auxiliary bishop of Włocławek, was arrested in 1939 and deported to the Dachau concentration camp, where he died on January 26, 1943.

Antoni Julian Nowowiejski – archbishop of Płock, arrested by the Germans, died of exhaustion in the Działdowo camp in 1941.

Leon Wetmański – auxiliary bishop of Płock, died in the Działdowo concentration camp in 1941.
Juliusz Bursche – bishop of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church, arrested by the Gestapo in 1939, died in the Gestapo prison Moabit in Berlin on February 20, 1942.

Priests and other clergy:
Maksymilian Maria Kolbe – Franciscan who voluntarily gave his life for a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz in 1941, died after two weeks in a starvation cell, finished off with a phenol injection.

Roman Ryczkowski – priest from Rudno in Podlasie, shot by the Germans for staying with his parishioners despite the possibility of pardon.

Henryk Szuman – parish priest in Starogard Gdański, arrested and murdered by the Germans.

Wincenty Frelichowski – Catholic priest, died in Dachau in 1945, beatified by John Paul II.

Aleksander Faltzmann – pastor of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church, arrested by the Germans, died in the Dachau concentration camp.