Anicet Hryciuk

The story of the Pratulin martyrs.

Anicet Hryciuk

The remains of thirteen martyrs are buried in a single coffin in Pratulin, in eastern Poland. In 1874, the tsar ordered this small  farming village’s Catholic church to be converted to Russian Orthodox. On January 24, these thirteen, alongside hundreds of worshipers, crowded around the church in order to resist, fighting rifles and bayonets with mere stones and sticks. After, the Russians buried the  dead villagers, including one Anicet Hryciuk, nearby, marching over their grave to obscure its exact location. But the survivors would never forget where it was.