KOZAL, MICHAŁ, BL.

Bishop, martyr of Dachau; b. Sept. 27, 1893, Ligota (now Nowy Folwark near Poznán), Poland; d. Jan. 26, 1943, Dachau Concentration Camp. Kozal was born into a devout peasant family. Following his ordination to the priesthood (1918), he held parish assignments while teaching in Catholic secondary schools. In August 1939, Kozal was appointed by Pope Pius XII auxilary bishop of Włocławek, Poland, then named bishop. During the short time between his consecration and arrest in which he could celebrate only a single Mass, Kozal was responsible for sending to safety Stefan Wyszynski. Kozal was arrested by the Gestapo on Nov. 7, 1939 as part of the Nazi drive to eradicate the Polish intelligentsia and elite. He was held for a time in a Włocławek prison, then sent to a convent in Lad. Following stops in Szczeglin and Berlin, Kozal was interned at Dachau (April 25, 1941). For the next two years he secretly celebrated Mass whenever possible and ministered to his fellow prisoners. He was killed with an injection of carbolic acid. Bp. Kozal was beatified at Warsaw, Poland, by John Paul II, June 14, 1987.

Feast: June 14.

Bibliography: s. biskupski, Meczénskie biskupstwo ksiedza Michala Kozala; bararzynstwo hitlerowskie w walce z Kósciolem Katolickim w Polsce (2d. ed. Warsaw 1955). t. bojarska, Cierniowa mitra (Warsaw 1971). w. fratczak, Biskup Michal Kozal: zycie-meczénstwo-kult (Warsaw 1987). f. korszynski, Un vescovo polacco a Dachau (Brescia 1963). Nuremberg War Crimes Trial Proceedings, v. 4, 511. L'Osservatore Romano, Eng. ed. 23 (1987):12.

[k. i. rabenstein]