The First Stage of the Hunt - Martydom

Historical outline

At the moment of the outbreak of World War II and the invasion of German units, extermination of Polish population began. There were mass arrests, mainly among those who were involved in the resistance, amongst the clergy and the intelligentsia. The places of martyrdom in Toruń were: Fort VII, Fort VII and Barbarka.

Eyewitness account

A lot of Poles stayed in Toruń’s prison at that time. The conditions were bad, the cold and hunger caused various illnesses. At nights one could hear sick and maltreated people groaning. I heard many times people asking for a glass of water and jailers’ replies: du polnisches Schwein (you polish pigs). Many died here. A prison van often arrived to the prison courtyard – you could hear rumbling, the clink of keys and opening the door. The prisoners were taken out and we never saw them again.

Are you ready to start looking for your HERO? Where can you find him, where to go? You should start at the place where he’s been lately, put in prison, tortured, he had been planning his escape for a long time, finally he succeeded.

Task 1

Now you know some of the places of martyrdom in Toruń, but there was another one in the centre. The clues will help you find it.

Between God and the truth there is a place of people’s alienation. The name of the street makes you think of warm buns and at the end of the street there is a building….Пr2=x.

Find out the name of the building and send it together with the coordinates to the base.

The film was your sign. Did you remember the route that you need to negotiate? If not - you can watch it again, but remember, the next time you won’t get such chance.

Martyrdom - task 1 for the base

Now you know some of the places of martyrdom in Toruń. Now mark them on the virtual map of Toruń. As a clue you’ve got coordinates of only one of the places, the other two are somewhere close. Find them and mark on the map.

Eyewitness account

Father Engler came out from the curate’s house on Kopernik street opposite the basilica to go to Mass. At a side exit of the graveyard fence he noticed two Wehrmacht officers standing on the side of Żeglarska street. They were waiting for him. They captured him and handed over to a civilian with a “Hilfs Polizei” armband to take him to Stary Rynek square.

- “Achtung” (Attention) and inspection of the people standing in a line
- „Wie heissen Sie?...Sie und Sie?“ (What’s your name? And yours………and yours?)

A question to me:- “Sind Sie auch Pole? (Are you also Polish?) The astonishment was probably caused by the German sound of my surname: Engler

- Jawohl, Pole” (Yes, I’m Polish)

- “Für jede Kirche – einer raus” (From each church - one priest step forward)

Parish priests of Toruń’s churches, curates were transported in trucks to Fort VII. Father Engler was thrown out of the truck at the last minute. He survived. As a tribute to a martyred death of one of his friends, also a priest, he wrote this poem:

Task 2

You familiarized yourself with the eyewitness account of the arrest carried out by the Gestapo. The next task is in front of you. You’re on the track of your HERO but this is just the beginning of your hunt. HE is being followed, he’s trying to hide, but where? Somewhere where HIS presence wouldn’t be strange to anybody,………….yes, HE found the right place……….Anyone can come here, even the biggest sinner.
That’s your task:
Find the church, find the relic, give the name of the young priest and send a picture of the commemorative plaque. The film and the poem were your signs.
Loud, powerfully like “Tuba Dei”
Toruń’s funeral bells are ringing
At Christ the King, at Jacob and John
They announce the death of a young priest
Deus miserere mei
Edmund Engler

Martyrdom - task 2 for the computer base

Using the coordinates find the church and mark it on the virtual map of Toruń. The rest information needed to solve the task you’ll get from the group in the territory.