The Activities of Salesian Teachers in Poland in the Time of World War II

The article presents the various activities of ‘the Salesians’ as teachers and educators during the Second World War, indicating also the social and political structures of the country. After the outbreak of the war, the educational efforts of the Salesians were stopped, but not eliminated from everyday life. However, on the basis of archival documents, the destiny of some religious was rediscovered, guided by the courageous and heroic acts of ‘teaching in secret’, creation of boarding schools, orphanages and pastoral care and demonstrating with their lives, a phenomenal dedication to youths’ education, risking of imprisonment, permanent enclosure in a concentration camp, and in many cases, death by martyrdom.