HISTORICAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE SISTERS OF ST. CATHERINE IN THE REGION OF WARMIA IN 1945

Abstract

As a result of the Red Army offensive in winter 1945 in the East Prussia, hundreds of thousands of Germans found themselves in a lap. A chaotic evacuation of troops and civilians began then, mostly by sea. In the course of the evacuation, where thousands of refugees were killed. A dramatic fate happened to the German civilians who got into the hands of the Red Army. In the occupied towns and villages, the Soviet soldiers committed individual and collective crimes against civilians. As victims of rapes and murders fell many women. Among the victims of the rapes and murders of Soviet soldiers were also sisters of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Catherine Virgin and Martyr. The death of some of them may be treated as signs of martyrdom for the faith.