Have you ever wondered what you would do in the face of pure evil? How you would react in a split second, soul-shaking moment of truth? Fear or bravery? Self-preservation – or selflessness?
 
In 1943, Marainna Biernacka, a fifty-five year Polish housewife and mother, didn’t even hesitate. (Matthew Archbold recounts her tale: “I Will Go for Her.” The Amazing Story of A Polish Martyr)

The Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. To understand, the Nazi occupation of Poland is to label it as one of the worst and most brutal genocides in the history of the world. Adolf Hitler himself is reported to have authorized his commanders to kill “without pity or mercy, all men, women, and children of Polish decent or language.”
 
When a German soldier was killed by any resistance, the Gestapo made it a practice to round up a large number of Polish civilians randomly and kill them in retaliation. It was just such an incident that brought the Nazis to the door of Marianna Biernacka.

 
After the death of her husband in 1929, Marianna lived with her son Stanislaw. When Stanislav married Anna Szymczyk the three continued to share a household. They were a devout Christian family ~

Prayer and song were a large part of their lives. Soon after the couple were married, the two had a daughter.
 
Bishop Jerzy Mazur, bishop of Elk, said on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Marianna’s death that “Staring at her ordinary life, we see that it was imbued with faith, love, prayer, work and suffering. Each day began with prayer and common singing Hours. Everyday life was filled with a difficult job in summer in a field, and in winter, spun flax and hemp and weaving on a loom. Recitation of the Rosary prayer and devotional singing songs allowed the dignity to endure the pain of bereavement, hard work and daily poverty.”

 
No doubt it was Marianna’s stong faith – such a central part of her being – that compelled her to act instinctively, unconcerned with her own welfare, when Hitler’s troops showed up on her doorstep ~

In July of 1943, the Nazis arrested many people in and around the city of Lipsk as retribution for a German killed by the resistance. Randomly, Stanislaw Biernacka, along with his pregnant wife Anna, were selected to be killed. Nobody believed they had anything to do with the resistance but they were to be killed for events outside of their control.
 
When the armed soldiers came to arrest them, Stanislaw’s mother, Marianna, reportedly dropped to her knees and begged the Nazis to take her instead of Anna.

“She is already in the last weeks of her pregnancy,” she pleaded. “I will go for her.” Her daughter-in-law begged her not to make this sacrifice but Marianna insisted, reportedly saying “You are young, you must live.” As the Nazis didn’t particularly care who they killed as they were simply filling a quota so they took Marianna and her son instead of the pregnant Anna.
 
The Nazis took Marianna and her son to the prison in Grodno. While in the prison, she only requested a pillow and a rosary. After two weeks in prison in which she spent much of her time praying, Marianna was shot and killed on July 13, 1943 in Naumowicze along with her son. Their bodies were thrown into a common grave.

Anna gave birth to a son and named him after his father. Sadly, young Stanislaw didn’t live to see his second birthday ~

Anna’s daughter, Eugenia, still lives in the family home, according to some Polish websites. She said that her mother, Anna, would often say that she had been given life twice. Once by her own mother and then from her mother-in-law.