Natalia Tułasiewicz

Natalia Tułasiewicz was born in Rzeszów on 9 April 1906.[1] She moved with her family to Poznań in 1921, where upon graduating from the Poznań University she worked as a teacher, and was a leader in the lay apostolate.

During the occupation of Poland, her family was among the many Polish families who were dispossessed by the Germans after annexation of Poznań; thrown out of their homes with only a few hours' notice.[1] She was involved in the underground education in Kraków and was a member of the Polish Underground State.[1] In 1943 she volunteered to leave for the Third Reich together with other women who were forced to perform heavy work, to give them spiritual comfort.[1] When the Germans found out about her secret mission, she was arrested, tortured, and condemned to death in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.[1] On Good Friday 1945, she climbed a stool in the barracks and spoke to the prisoners on the passion and resurrection of Jesus. Two days later, on Easter Sunday, 31 March, she died in a gas chamber.[1] The concentration camp was liberated two days later.[1]

Natalia Tułasiewicz is one of the only two lay women among the 108 Martyrs of World War II, beatified on 13 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II.[1][2]

• Bł. Natalia Tułasiewicz, Przeciw barbarzynstwu – Listy, Dzienniki, wspomnienia. Wydawnictwo "M", Kraków 2003.
• Natalia Tułasiewicz, Byc poetka zycia. Zapiski z lat 1938–1943. Wydawnictwo Wydziału Teologicznego UAM, Poznan, 2006.