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2010-08-09

68th anniversary of Edith Stein's death

Edith Stein

On 9th of August1942, the Germans exterminated Edith Stein, Sister Teresia Benedicta of the Cross, in the gas chamber in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Edith Stein was the first Jewish woman who converted to Catholicism and was canonized. Anniversary of her death is commemorated in the Catholic Church and on 9th of August people prayer for the victims of the Holocaust.

The Holy Mass in the chapel of the Auschwitz Carmelite convent, which is celebrated on Monday’s evening by Tadeusz Rakoczy, bishop of Bielsko-Żywiec region, was the culmination of the anniversary of Edith Stein’s death. Earlier in the Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the faithfuls prayed for the victims of wars and for peace in the world.

Edith Stein was born in Wroclaw in 1891 to a devout Jewish family. At the age of 30 years she converted to Catholicism. Twelve years later, she joined the Carmelite Order and changed the name to Teresia Benedicta of the Cross.

On 2nd of August1942, a nun was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in Amersfoort. Two days later she was taken to Westerbork camp in Nazi-occupied Netherlands. The transport went to Auschwitz on 7th of August 1942. Germans deported the nun and 986 Jews. In transport, which reached the camp on 8th of August 1942, there were also dozens of converted Jews. Besides sister Edith Stein, there were also other nuns and brothers among the prisoners.

After selection, which took place on the ramp located between the camps Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau (so-called Judenrampe), about half of the prisoners was sent to the camp. Other group, including Edith Stein and her sister Rosa, was exterminated in the first gas chambers in Birkenau – red and white house.

The Pope John Paul II beatified Teresa Benedicta of the Cross in 1987. Eleven years later she was canonized.

More information (in Polish) is included in the article: Edyta Stein.

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68th anniversary of Edith Stein's death

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