Jānis Mendriks (21 January 1907 – 1 August 1953) was a Latvian

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

killed in the

Vorkuta Uprising The Vorkuta Uprising was a major uprising of forced labor camp inmates at the Vorkuta Gulag in Vorkuta, Russian SFSR, USSR from 19 July (or 22 July) to 1 August 1953, shortly after the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria. The uprising was violently stop ...

in the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Gulags The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

Biography

Mendriks was born in Logocki, Kalupe Parish, in southern

Latgale Latgale ( ltg, Latgola; ; ger, Lettgallen; be, Латгалія, Łathalija; pl, Łatgalia; la, Lettgallia), also known as Latgalia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region and is north of the Daugava River. While m ...

(then in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

). He attended Riga Seminary ( Rīgas Katoļu garīgais seminārs) after which he was ordained a priest at St. James's Cathedral, Riga on 3 April 1938. He was a member of the

Congregation of Marian Fathers The Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary ( la, Congregatio Clericorum Marianorum ab Immaculata Conceptionis Beatissimae Virginis Mariae) is a Catholic male clerical religious congregation fou ...

. After his ordination, he served as a vicar at the Marian parish in

Viļāni Viļāni () (german: Welonen, pl, Wielony) is a town in Rēzekne Municipality in the Latgale region of Latvia. The railway line Riga-Moscow, and the motor highway Riga-Moscow, and the road Preiļi-Balvi cross Viļāni. The Malta River, Malta riv ...

. In 1942, while he served a parish in Ostron, a German policeman died. He knew the man to be impenitent, and denied him burial in hallowed ground. This refusal required him to hide from German occupation authorities. SNC17569

After the

Soviet re-occupation of Latvia in 1944 The Soviet re-occupation of Latvia in 1944 refers to the military occupation of Latvia by the Soviet Union in 1944. During World War II Latvia was first occupied by the Soviet Union in June 1940, then was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941–1944 ...

, he resumed parish work. He was arrested on 25 October 1950 and sent to prison in Riga. On 24 March 1951 he was sentenced to 10 years of

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

for "organizing anti-Soviet nationalist gangs and for anti-Soviet propaganda." He was deported to the

Komi Republic The Komi Republic (russian: Республика Коми; kv, Коми Республика), sometimes simply referred to as Komi, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. Its capital is the city of Syktyvkar. The population of the ...

and worked at a coal mine in the

Vorkuta Gulag The Vorkuta Corrective Labor Camp (), commonly known as the Vorkuta Gulag or Vorkutlag (Воркутлаг), was a major GULAG labor camp of the Soviet Union located in Vorkuta from 1932 to 1962. The Vorkuta Gulag was one of the largest camps in ...

. Mendriks secretly fulfilled his priestly duties in the labour camp. Inmates at Vorkuta who were forced to work in the region's coal mines went on strike during the

Vorkuta uprising The Vorkuta Uprising was a major uprising of forced labor camp inmates at the Vorkuta Gulag in Vorkuta, Russian SFSR, USSR from 19 July (or 22 July) to 1 August 1953, shortly after the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria. The uprising was violently stop ...

in July 1953. The mostly passive strike was put down on 1 August, when troops were ordered to fire at the strikers, resulting in the deaths of at least 42 prisoners, including Mendriks. Mendriks has been honoured by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

since 2003.

References

Sources

Biography from the Website of the Marianists

External links

Servant of God Fr. Janis Mendriks MIC 1907–1953

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendriks, John Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception 1907 births 1953 deaths Latvian Roman Catholics Servants of God Latvian people executed by the Soviet Union People from Daugavpils Municipality Catholic people executed by the Soviet Union Participants in the Vorkuta uprising