Jan Skarbek (June 15, 1885, in Paszczyna near

Dębica Dębica (; yi, דעמביץ ''Dembitz'') is a town in southeastern Poland with 44,692 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it had previously been in ...

– February 2, 1951) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest, chronicler. Skarbek is one of the honorary citizens of

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; german: Auschwitz ; yi, אָשפּיצין, Oshpitzin) is a city in the Lesser Poland ( pl, Małopolska) province of southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rive ...

– he was given this title from city authorities in 1934. He was known for cultivating

interfaith relations Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

in Oświęcim and maintaining friendly relations with local

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community.

Biography

Education

In 1909 he was ordained a priest and a diploma in theology at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

. He was also a law graduate of the same university in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. He was ordained a priest in Kraków in 1909. His first pastoral institution was the parish of St. Adalbert and St. Catherine in

Jaworzno Jaworzno is a city in southern Poland, near Katowice. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Przemsza river (a tributary of the Vistula). Jaworzno belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland. The city is situated in the Silesian Voivod ...

. In 1914. it ended up in nearby Szczakowa, and a year later in Pleszów, near Krakow. In January 1926, Skarbek became the parish priest of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish in Oświęcim and held this position until his death.

Interwar period

He came to Oświęcim in 1926. He was a town councilor for many years. In 1934, he was awarded the title of an honorary citizen of Oświęcim. He was active in a number of charity, social and educational organizations, and was also involved in maintaining proper interfaith relations in Oświęcim. In 1929, he became chairman of the committee devoted to building and establishing the first secondary school in the city, which functions to the present day (today, the Stanisław Konarski Secondary School in Oświęcim).

World War II

During the war, Skarbek worked with the resistance movement at the

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

concentration camp. He was involved in helping escapees from the KL Auschwitz camp, including by issuing false baptism records. On the night of July 1–2, 1942, German policemen arrested the parish priest, treasurer and one of the vicars. The priests were beaten and the presbytery was plundered. The parish priest's housekeeper was also arrested. Skarbek was arrested for "storing excessive amounts of food in the presbytery". He was imprisoned in Oświęcim,

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

Mysłowice Mysłowice ( szl, Myslowicy; german: Myslowitz) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The population of the city is 74,085. It is located in the south district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union in the Silesian Highlan ...

and

Bielsko Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that tow ...

. After his release, the German authorities did not allow him to return to Oświęcim, and he did not return there until 1945; then he continued to act as a parish priest. He died on February 2, 1951, in Oświęcim and was buried in the parish cemetery in Oświęcim.

Activities for interfaith relations

Skarbek actively built good relations with the Jewish community of Oświęcim based on mutual respect. He maintained warm, friendly relations with many members of the Jewish community, including the local rabbi Elyahu Bombach and other rabbis. He encouraged the Catholic community of the town to be similarly open towards other religions. Skarbek met the rabbi of Oświęcim in the park, where they talked together in Hebrew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skarbek, Jan People from Oświęcim History of Oświęcim 1885 births 1951 deaths