Bertrand Zimolong

Bertrand (Franz) Zimolong (born 26 November 1888 in Chróścice near Opole, died there June 18, 1945) - a Franciscan, a biblical scholar, martyr.

The son of the farmers of Tomasz and Jadwiga, baptismal name - Francis (Franz). After completing elementary school in Chrócice, he continued his studies at the Franciscan Gymnasium in Wroclaw - Karłowice. In 1907, after high school, he entered the Franciscan Order (Bertrand).

He was ordained priest on June 18, 1914, from the hands of the auxiliary bishop Karl Augustin.

In the years 1912-1918 he studied at the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Wrocław and additionally at the Faculty of Philosophy of Oriental Philology. In 1918 he received his doctorate in New Testament Theology on the basis of the dissertation Die Nikodemusperikope (Jo 2: 23-3,22) nach dem syrosinaitischen Text, which was promoted by prof. Joseph Sickenberger. In 1922, in the Faculty of Philosophy, he defended his second doctoral dissertation. Das sumerisch-assyrische Vokabular. In the years 1925-1927 he specialized in studies at the Franciscan Bible Institute in Jerusalem. He worked mainly as a lecturer in the higher seminary of the Franciscans in Wroclaw - Karłowice. He also performed various functions in the Silesian province of the Friars Minor.

In March 1935, he was arrested by the Gestapo as part of a fight against Catholic orders, spending six months in jail, then acquitted. In January 1945 he left Wrocław and took refuge in Upper Silesia. At the end of the war he stayed at his family home in Chrościce. On the night of June 1, 2, 1945, during the assault on the house of the Red Army soldiers, he defended his niece's dignity and was severely injured by bayonets. He died on the morning of June 18, 1945, on the 31st anniversary of his priestly ordination. He was buried in the parish cemetery in Chrócice. Main publications

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