Józef Achilles Puchała

Jozef Achilles Puchala
Born	March 18, 1911 Kosina, Poland
Died	July 19, 1943

Józef Achilles Puchała (born 18 March 1911 in Kosina - died 19 July 1943 in Borowikowszczyzna) – Polish Franciscan monk from the Iwieniec (Ivyanets) monastery, tortured and killed by the Nazis during World War II and beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 13, 1999.

At the age of 16 he was admitted to the order of Franciscans. Between 1932 and 1937 he studied philosophy and theology in Kraków. He was ordained in 1936. After completing his studies he joined the Franciscan monastery in Grodno. In 1939 he became a second vicar in Iwieniec (Ivyanets).

At the start of World War II he was moved to a nearby village as a provost of parish of St. Mary Magdalene. After the anti-Nazi uprising in Iwieniec, in June 1943 the local population was arrested by the Germans. Although Puchała had the opportunity, he did not choose to escape and instead remained with his parishioners.

"Operation Hermann" was an operation by the Nazi's targeted especially against the Catholic resistance, and in particular, Franciscan friars Józef Achilles Puchała and Karol Herman Stępień, who were tortured to death. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1999 among the 108 Martyrs of World War II,