January 27 is the anniversary of the death of Father Jacek J. Tylzanowski.

Jacek J. Tylzanowskie was born in Wielgomlyny, Poland on January 10, 1913. After graduation from the local high school in 1932, he entered the Augustinian seminary in Krakow, Poland. He completed his studies for the priesthood in 1939 and was preparing for ordination when the Nazi invasion began on September 1. He and the superiors, priests, and seminarians of the monastery fled to eastern Poland, halting at Kowel about 70 miles from the Russian border. Here their hopes for sanctuary were ended when the Russian army invaded Poland.

Father Tylzanowski, still just a cleric, was arrested by the Russians for not voting for their party in the “free” elections; after a weeks confinement without food or water he escaped and hid on a freight train for the 250 mile trip to Lwow in southeastern Poland. Here he hid with friends for a time, but was again arrested by the Russians and sent on a train headed for the Doniec coal basin in Russia. However, he escaped from that train and managed to hide on one going west; eventually making his way back to the Augustinian monastery in Krakow. He had been missing for three months and his fellow religious had feared he was dead. Thus having returned to the monastery he was finally able to be ordained to the priesthood, the ceremony being held on December 22, 1939. Unfortunately his parents and family were not permitted to attend, being restrained by the occupying forces. After ordination, Father Tylzanowski was assigned to do parish work in the Krakow area, but quickly became involved in underground activities. Before long he was arrested by the Gestapho and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. In Jun, 1942, after two years of unforgettable horror at Auschwita, known as the “Camp of the Living Death”, the young priest was transferred to the equally infamous Dachau prison camp in Germany.

Father was in Dachau from 1942 until June of 1945 when only the American’s unexpected arrival prevented the execution of all the prisoners by the retreating Germans. From 1945 until 1952 Father was the Chief Chaplain of the International Refugee Organization at the Immigration embarkation Center in Bremen, Germany. In 1952 he came to the United States and was assigned to Saint Rita’s High School in Chicago. Father spent all of his remaining years at Saint Rita’s, except for a one year sojourn as an assistant at Saint Augustine’s in Detroit, MI. In 1964 Father Tylzanowski received his Master’s degree in Education from DePaul University.

Father died in Holy Cross Hospital on Friday, January 27, 1967, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. He is buried in the Augustinian plot of Holy Sepluchre cemetery in Chicago, IL.

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