Father Jan Świerc and his eight companions, all of them Salesian priests who died at Auschwitz, were beatified at the Shrine of St. John Paul II the Great in Kraków, Poland.
One of the martyrs, Father Karol Golda, S.D.B., was killed because he heard the confessions of German soldiers.
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, was the principal celebrant at the beatification Mass, which took place on June 6.