A man of great spirit and wisdom. Fr. Franciszek possessed much optimism. Faith helped him overcome the hardships of occupation and persecution from the time of the camp in Ląd until his martyr’s death in Dachau. Toward the end of his life, it was he who strengthened his brethren in faith and became an example of how to remain faithful unto death.

Childhood and Youth

Francik was born in Świerczyniec near Bieruń Stary in Upper Silesia on 5 December 1898 as the fifth child of Jan and Zofia (née Pilorz) in a family of eleven members (the entire family lived in Bieruń).
He was baptized on 8 December 1898 in the church of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle in Bieruń. The whole family had to make a living from a 15-hectare farm. Yet what constituted their true wealth was the faith that filled their home.

In the Miśka family home, there must have been a remarkable atmosphere. To raise a large number of children during the time of the partitions and the First World War was no small achievement. It was in his family home that Franciszek learned how to be good to others, how to endure those who were difficult, how to help, and how to forgive.

The parents gave their children the best example of a good Christian life. They also cultivated patriotic traditions by distributing Polish books and magazines, singing patriotic songs, and running a circle of the Society of People’s Reading Rooms. During the Second World War, the family hid in their home people sought by the Gestapo, as well as prisoners who had escaped from Auschwitz.

Salesian Path

He attended the secondary school in Oświęcim, and after completing it, in 1916 he was admitted to the novitiate in Pleszów, where on 24 July 1917 he made his first religious vows. After philosophical studies in Kraków, he completed his pedagogical training in Przemyśl and Oświęcim. He made his perpetual vows in Oświęcim on 25 July 1923.He then went to Turin-Crocetta to study theology.

There, on 10 July 1927, he received priestly ordination. After ordination, he worked in Przemyśl as a school councillor and catechist in an orphanage run by the Salesians. After two years of work, he was transferred to Vilnius as a catechist in the Salesian school. Then, in 1931, he became the director of the large Salesian work in Jaciążek, leading it for five years. In 1936, he assumed the position of director of the House of the Sons of Mary—that is, men who discerned their Salesian vocation later in life—and also became parish priest in Ląd on the Warta River.

After the outbreak of the war in 1939, he served for several weeks as a military chaplain, and then returned to Ląd to continue his ministry as parish priest.

Arrest

It was in his family home that Fr. Franciszek was arrested by the German persecutors.

On 6 January 1941, the German authorities transformed the Salesian house in Ląd into a prison for priests from the dioceses of Włocławek, Gniezno–Poznań, and other dioceses, as well as for a group of Salesians present in the house. Among the temporary prisoners was Bishop Michał Kozal, now Blessed, as well as a group of seminarians from the Diocese of Włocławek. The Gestapo appointed Fr. Franciszek Miśka as the superior of all the internees, making him responsible for discipline and the conduct of the prisoners. He cared for his confreres as much as he could, often at his own expense. He possessed a spirit of heroism. He strengthened the priests and seminarians who were there. All the prisoners were later transported in stages to the concentration camp in Dachau.

Martyrdom and Death

During this time, Fr. Franciszek was twice taken to Inowrocław and Gniezno, where he was beaten until he bled and lost consciousness. From Ląd, he was transferred to the transit camp in Konstantynów near Łódź on 6 October 1941, and on 30 October he was sent to the camp in Dachau. In the camp, Fr. Franciszek was assigned exhausting labour. When he was forced to carry cauldrons of soup, he broke his arm.

He died of illness and exhaustion on 30 May 1942, on Trinity Sunday. Before his death, he prayed and comforted others, encouraging his fellow prisoners. His body was burned in the crematorium.

Beatification Process

Fr. Franciszek Miśka is one of the 122 Servants of God for whom the second beatification process of the second group of Polish martyrs of the Second World War began on 17 September 2003.
On 24 May 2011, the diocesan phase concluded in Pelplin, and all documentation was forwarded to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome.

The Positio was submitted on 21 July 2022, and its relator was Fr. Szczepan Tadeusz Praśkiewicz, OCD. The postulator of the cause is Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, General Postulator for the Causes of the Salesian Family, who collaborates with Dr. Mariafrancesca Oggianu. On Tuesday, 28 March 2023, the historical consultors of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints issued a positive opinion regarding the Positio suppletiva super martyrio of Fr. Jan Świerc and eight companions, priests of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, murdered in odium fidei in German extermination camps in the years 1941–1942.

On 24 October 2025, Pope Leo XIV ordered the publication of the Decree on Martyrdom and its inclusion in the records of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

On 1 May 2026, Pope Leo XIV signed an Apostolic Letter allowing the Servants of God to be called Blessed and designated 23 May as the day of their liturgical commemoration. On 6 June 2026, the beatification ceremony took place at the Shrine of St John Paul II in Krakow.