Childhood and Youth

Kazimierz Wojciechowski was the son of Andrzej and Maria (née Bosko). He was born on 16 August 1904 in Jasło. His father was a railway worker, and his mother worked on the farm. At the age of five, Kazimierz lost his father. From that moment, the entire burden of providing for and raising three small children fell upon his mother, a woman of deep piety and great self-sacrifice. With the help of kind people, his mother arranged for her son Kazimierz to be admitted to the Salesian Institute named after the Lubomirski family in Kraków. He was then eight years old. He was a very lively, cheerful boy, always content. In 1916, Kazimierz was admitted to the Institute of Don Bosco in Oświęcim. The Salesian life, full of joy and activity, suited his lively temperament. He loved games and recreation and willingly took an active part in them. He studied well. He also showed interest in the orchestra.

Salesian Path

After completing the fourth class of secondary school, he submitted an application for admission to the novitiate in Klecza Dolna. Upon entering the novitiate there in 1920, he earnestly set about refining his character, mindful of his mother’s wish that he become a good and holy priest—a Salesian.

On 2 October 1921, he made his first religious vows and completed the novitiate. He made his perpetual vows on 2 May 1928 in Oświęcim.

From Klecza Dolna, he went to the Philosophical Studentate in Kraków, the so-called “Łosiówka.” There he obtained his secondary school diploma and completed his studies with good results.
He was sent for practical pedagogical training (assistantship) to the Minor Seminary in Ląd on the Warta River. There he taught mathematics and assisted the boys, being the driving spirit of recreation and all kinds of activities. One of his pupils recalled: “I remember the Wednesday walks, when everyone had such a good time. There were football games, ‘carabinieri’ games, and various pursuits.”

He also taught singing and music. In this field too, he showed great creativity, inspiring the students and teaching them to play instruments in an accessible way. One of the orchestra members in Ląd recalled: “Fr. Wojciechowski knew how to encourage us to play, whether by giving sweets or by showing a new instrument acquired for our group. Sometimes, when one of us was missing, he would take an instrument himself and play the missing part… He also organized a fine choir.”

In the years 1924–1925, he taught music and mathematics in Ląd. Later, he worked as a teacher of music and singing in Salesian institutions in Antoniewo, Warsaw, Aleksandrów Kujawski, and Oświęcim. He knew how to create a joyful atmosphere, characteristic of Salesian houses, through his love of music, sport, and his lively manner with the youth, although, given his energetic and impulsive temperament, this did not always come easily to him.

In 1930, he came to Kraków for theological studies. There too, he formed a choir among his fellow students, which enriched various celebrations.

He also worked in the Oratory at the parish of Saint Stanislaus Kostka. The sports club he organized there, involving the oratory youth, was one of the most dynamic in Kraków. On 19 May 1935, he received priestly ordination in Kraków from Bishop Stanisław Rospond, a great friend of the works of Don Bosco in Poland.

After the joyful days of his first Mass celebrations, he went as a teacher to the Minor Seminary in Daszawa. After a year, he returned to Kraków as a teacher of religion in the Dębniki primary schools, as well as director of the Oratory and of Catholic Youth Associations.

The school authorities described his work as follows: “Fr. Wojciechowski teaches religion in our school. He knows how to interest and enliven the youth during lessons. Everywhere he brings sincere joy… He is also involved with the youth outside of school… He is liked by them and holds their respect.”

During the September military operations, he remained in Kraków and hastened to help refugees.
When the German authorities in the so-called General Government reopened primary schools in November of that year, Fr. Kazimierz returned to his beloved work in education.

Arrest

May 1941 arrived. On the eve of the feast of Mary Help of Christians—23 May, in the evening hours—he was arrested by the Gestapo together with other confreres and imprisoned in the Montelupich prison in Kraków.

As the reason for the arrest, the officer conducting the operation stated that Fr. Kazimierz was working to maintain the spirit of Polish identity among the youth. After a month in the Kraków prison, on 26 June of that same year, he was transported with others to the concentration camp in Auschwitz.

Martyrdom and Death

The day of 27 June 1941 proved tragic for the Salesians of Kraków. Twelve of them worked in the penal company, among them Fr. Kazimierz Wojciechowski, whose strong physical build drew the attention of the persecutors. He was subjected to inhuman abuse, beaten and kicked. With one blow of a shovel handle, the kapo knocked out his teeth, and with a whip he cut open the skin on his head. With the last of his strength, he continued to work, constantly driven on.

That day, two Salesians—Jan Świerc and Ignacy Dobiasz—had already been murdered and taken to the crematorium. In the afternoon, it was time for more victims. After a meal that none of those in the penal company could swallow, the same exhausting labor resumed, along with further harassment. After some time, greatly suffering, Fr. Kazimierz asked the block leader for lighter work.
“Yes, you will get it at once—just take this wheelbarrow to the pit, on the run!” he said, striking him several times on the back with a stick, shouting: “You lazy cheat, you don’t want to work!”
He then pushed the approaching Fr. Kazimierz into the deep pit together with the wheelbarrow. Soon, laughter and mockery could be heard from the SS man at the sight of the unfortunate man trying to climb out.

Suddenly, the order was given: “Lie down next to that lazy one!”

Fr. Wojciechowski looked in the indicated direction and saw Fr. Franciszek Harazim lying on his back, over whom the bloodthirsty kapo had long been tormenting himself. It was approaching 2:00 p.m. The day was hot. Fever and thirst tormented the poor prisoners.

Finally, the kapo and the block leader threw down a heavy beam and placed it on the necks of the dying priests, mocking them: “So, you know how to deceive people… You don’t want to work. You say there is a God. Show Him to me—I want to see Him!… I am your god now! I am the master of your lives!”

For a while longer, this mockery of the poor victims continued. Then the kapo and the block leader stood on the beam placed on their necks and with their weight completed the bloody act…

A short rattling breath, foam at the mouth, swelling of the face, mortal convulsions… some indistinct words—and the two martyrs, Fr. Wojciechowski and Fr. Harazim, ended their earthly journey, ended the agony of the camp. Their bodies were thrown onto wheelbarrows and taken to the pile of corpses beside the crematorium.

Fr. Kazimierz Wojciechowski was murdered on 27 June 1941 at the so-called Gravel Pit, at the age of 37, in the 20th year of his religious vows and the 6th year of his priesthood. He bore the camp number 17342.

Beatification Process

Fr. Kazimierz Wojciechowski 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.