Maximilian Kolbe Society to Honor the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes in Lviv
On October 11 representatives of the Advisory Board of the Maximilian Kolbe Society, whose members are mostly citizens of Germany, Poland, Ireland, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ukraine, will honor the victims of totalitarian regimes in Lviv. The prayer will be led by the clergy of the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic churches.
The program will begin at 2:30 p.m. with a visit to the National Memorial Museum of Victims of Totalitarian Regimes “Prison on Lontskoho.” The museum’s director, Dr. Ruslan Zabily, will familiarize visitors with the tragic history of the Nazi and communist regimes on the territory of Ukraine and talk about the work of the museum.
At 5:00 p.m. a memorial service will be held at the museum for innocent victims, headed by Auxiliary Bishop of Archeparchy of Lviv of UGCC Bishop Venedykt Aleksiychuk. Then participants will make a memorial pilgrimage, “road of death,” from the former prison on Lontskoho to the Lviv Citadel, on the territory of which during the war was the concentration camp Stalag-328. Here near the memorial cross the victims will be honored with the prayer “Our Father,” which will be said in different languages.
The first day of the visit of European guests will end with a round table discussion on “The Problem of the Heritage of Totalitarianism and World War II in Ukraine” with Prof. Yaroslav Hrytsak, Oleksandr Zaitsev, and Taras Vozniak. Vice Rector of UCU Myroslav Marynovych will monitor the meeting.
The next day, Saturday, a regular meeting of the Advisory Board of the Maximilian Kolbe Society will be held.
The organizers are the Maximilian Kolbe Society, the Institute for Religion and Society of the Ukrainian Catholic University.
The Maximilian Kolbe Society draws its inspiration from St. Maximilian Kolbe, a martyr for reconciliation who gave his life instead of his cellmate in Auschwitz. In doing so, he proved that the last word is not for hatred and violence. From this sacrificial act, the Maximilian Kolbe Society feels a special moral obligation to honor the victims of injustice and violence.
The society also draws inspiration from the historic reconciliation between the Polish and German Catholic bishops in 1965, which set the model for agreement between the Polish and German people, and later between nations across Europe.
