Author:

Keywords:

Emilian Kowcz, Martyrdom, Ukraine, Totalitarian Systems, Religious persecutions

Abstract:

Ukrainian history of the twentieth century is a very painful history. Around seventeen million Ukrainians suffered violent death during that difficult period of time. An overwhelming majority of those casualties were victims of two vicious totalitarian systems, Communist and Nazi, both of which explicitly or implicitly made no place for God. Ukrainian History of the 20th century, at the same time, is glorious history of all those who faced the tribulations with faith and courage. Among the outstanding personalities of that time was Emilian Kowcz, who embodied as it were Ukrainian resistance vis-à-vis the godless regimes. In the midst of disasters brought by Communists and Nazis, he firmly choose to serve God and the neighbour. This truly heroic figure, akin in his attitude to the martyrs of the first Christian centuries, at the same time emerges as a loving husband and father of six children, as a caring pastor, as someone who was not that distant from us. Moreover, some of his views especially his sensitivity towards the other human beings, regardless their nationality, religion or background, may strike as very contemporary ones. The most important lesson Emilian Kowcz teaches by the witness of his entire life and death: in the midst of the suffering he discerned God’s presence, he proclaimed and radiated love, the paschal love, which eventually marked his passage through the atrocities of the Nazi concentration camp to the glory of the martyrdom.