Biographical Notes:
Fr. Józef Jankowski was born November 17th 1910 at Czyczkowy in Pomerania and was baptized on the 20th of the same month. In 1924 he began his studies at the Pallottine Minor Seminary at Suchary and in 1929 entered the Novitiate of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate at Otarzew. After the Novitiate he returned to Wadowice to complete his secondary education and there, on August 5th 1931, he made his First Consecration. He was ordained priest August 2nd 1936 at Suchary, then dedicated himself to pastoral ministry at Otarzew and environs, and was catechist in two schools. During the German occupation he remained at Otarzew, giving spiritual support to the local population and to the soldiers. March 31st 1941 he was appointed Novice Master. May 16th 1941, Fr. Jankowski, arrested by the Gestapo, was taken to Pawiak prison in Warsaw. He was later transferred to the concentration camp of Oswiecim (Auschwitz). October 16th 1941 he was murdered, and his body burned in the camp crematorium.
Spirituality:
The documentation, attached to the Beatification Process, presents Fr. Jankowski as a Pallottine who, with uncommon perseverance and consistency, realized his program of holiness following the example of the Founder. His spiritual path can be seen in his own words, in a letter addressed to his brother in 1935, one year before his priestly ordination: "My natural ideal must embrace God, my neighbour and myself ... The ideal's core is God's love. Ever since I knew and understood better, man's perfection, a desire arose in my soul.- a deep love towards God. I was to arrive at an ever-deeper love for God, to the extent I possibly could, to the greatest extent possible ... As a priest I want to love God not only to become the "salt of the earth", but above all because He is inexpressibly worthy of love. Because he is God ... I want to love God more than my life".
Humble and confident in the strength of grace, he would ask his neighbours to help him by means of their prayers so that he could attain such goals: "Pray God so that my heart, freed from self-love, may be always open to accept his grace; pray that I may never forget to offer to God the gift of myself, because sacrifice generates love ... I believe that the love of God is the most important motive in my priestly service. This is my program".
He valued the Eucharist in a very special way, and lived a filial entrusting of self to
the Mother of God. In fact, the witnesses in the Process of Beatification acknowledged these traits, clearly evidenced in his letters and personal notes, as characteristic of his spirituality. In a letter, addressed to his brother, he writes: "The love
of God grows within us, first of all by means of the Eucharist. The holy Eucharist
was instituted so that the love of God may be increased".
In his personal act of trust in the Blessed Virgin we read: "Mary, Blessed Virgin, Queen of Apostles, my beloved Mother, I yearn to love you... You are the Mother of Divine Love. Fill my heart with the love of God. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, as you did with our Father and Founder... I trust that you will entrust many, many souls to my care. Let my life be destroyed and let your Kingdom, the Kingdom of Christ, Your beloved Son, rule the world".
His faith, his spiritual richness and his generous personality were fully expressed in his priestly ministry of a mere five years. Testimony unanimously verity his exceptional pastoral zeal, originating in the love of God and neighbour, in his religiosity, dedication to hard work, responsibility, prudence, justice, but, above all, his sensitivity to people which resulted in a heroic response.
Martyrdom:
Arrested May 16th 1941, Fr. Józef, after some hours of interrogation, was transferred to the rigorous prison of Pawiak in Warsaw. He was subjected to additional questioning and torture and, on May 28th 1941, with a convoy of prisoners, was transferred to Auschwitz, where he was registered as "prisoner no 16895".
During his five-month stay in this place of detention, hard labour and hunger, he was suffered mortification, humiliations, and physical, moral, spiritual tortures. On October 16th 1941 Fr. Józef was tortured by a prison warden known for his cruelty. Owing to the suffering to which he was subjected, Fr. Jankowski died on the same day at the sickbay where he had been brought. He was 31 years of age. An eyewitness, Fr. Konrad Szweda, reported: "Almost killed ... he was taken to the camp hospital. I went to see him the following day, but he was already dead. I do not know if his death was due to the beating, or to a lethal injection; as the latter was a common practice at Oswiecim".
Fr. Józef, having already fully realized consecration in his Pallottine life, continued to show the total sacrifice of his life "for God's love". According to his friend's evidence , he explicitly stated, and not only once, that he was ready to offer his life for the faith and for God". It is not a surprise, therefore, that in facing great risks to his life, he brought pastoral and nursing help to the wounded and the dying, and also offered his own life ...in order to protect other people's lives. In the course of interrogations (as reported by Fr. Józef Wrobel, SAC, on the basis of the testimony of eyewitnesses) Fr. Jankowski, both at Oftarzew and at "Pawiak", took all responsibility upon himself, even though neither he nor the other prisoners were in any way guilty. At the cost of sacrificing himself, he would have wanted to save his confreres from the consequences of his arrest. Even the Gestapo were surprised by his unique behaviour''. Other witnesses agree on his willingness to offer his life for others in a spirit of love towards God. They also agree on his acceptance of humiliations, sufferings, and torture at Oswiecim, which inevitably lead him to death.
Fr. Józef Wrobel, reflecting on the testimony left by Fr. Jankowski, states: "His availability to sacrifice himself for the neighbour, testified by works, sufferings, prison, concentration camp, and his death, is a most perfect virtue; it is heroic love, following the example of Christ, because 'no one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends' (Jn 15:13)".
The Fame of Martyrdom:
In the conscience of the Polish Pallottines, Fr. Józef remains an example of generous service to God and people, of heroism and fidelity to his Pallottine and Priestly vocation, an example of a holy life, faithful to the point of martyrdom, as evidenced by the Minutes of the 1947 General Chapter which recognised him as such, and supported the request to initiate his Beatification Process.
The fame of Fr. Jankowski's martyrdom, which spread immediately after his death, gained more and more strength among the SAC members, among the ex-prisoners at Oswiecim, and among the faithful who, aware of his pastoral ministry of charity, considered him a Saint. Expressions of this fame are the numerous reports and written accounts of eye-witnesses regarding his holy life, ending with martyrdom, celebrations on the anniversary of his death, and the many publications on his life. Many graces obtained from God are attributed to his intercession. The witnesses in the Process of Beatification unanimously concur and highlight their strong conviction regarding Fr. Józef's martyrdom and holy life.
The following is, among the numerous testimonies, the statement of a priest who knew him well, as he was his confrere and class-mate at the Major Seminary, Fr. Stanislaw Martuszewski: "I am deeply convinced that Fr. Józef has consciously sacrificed his life as a martyr, a life always dedicated to God whom he served entirely, faithful to his vocation. This is a judgement shared by all those who knew him and with whom I am in touch. The fame of martyrdom of Blessed Fr. Józef Jankowski still lives on in the memory of the people who knew him"