Ashes of a priest who saved Jews arrive in Odessa


Daniel, from the Jaffa community, sent us a report about Father Emeyan Kovach.

 

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On April 30, the Chancellor of the Greek Catholic Exarchy of Odessa-Crimea, Father Vladimir Zhdan, brought the ashes of the Greek Catholic priest, Father Emeyan Kovach, who was murdered by the Nazis, to Odessa. Father Kovach saved Jews - prisoners in the Majdanek concentration camp, situated in Poland, during the Second World War.

Representatives of the Church have pointed out that the bones of Father Emeyan Kovach could not be found because he died in the gas chambers of the camp. "Therefore, the heads of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church decided to collect ashes that remained from the tens of thousands of people who died in the Majdanek camp, among them also Father Kovach".

Father Kovach was arrested by the Nazis during the war and imprisoned in the concentration camp because of the fact that he printed and distributed to Jews Christian birth certificates, which enabled them to escape the Nazi persecutions. :Despite many warnings, Father Emeyan Kovach continued to put into practice his duty as a pastor in the Church and for this reason was sent to the concentration camp," the Chancellor of the Exarchy pointed out.

Father Kovach was beatified in 2001 in Lvov.

For more information on Blessed Father Kovach

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