Pope Leo XIV honors Auschwitz midwife who assisted at 3,000 births
After his general audience on September 16, 2026, the pope met an Auschwitz survivor, 70 midwives and Bishop Krzysztof Nykiel to mark the 130th anniversary of the birth of Stanisława Leszczyńska
Pope Leo XIV met a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Ewa Machaj-Antosiewicz, along with a group of 70 midwives and Bishop Krzysztof Nykiel, regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, at the end of his general audience on September 16, 2026. The meeting marked the 130th anniversary of the birth of the Servant of God Stanisława Leszczyńska, a Polish midwife who assisted about 3,000 women in childbirth during her imprisonment at Auschwitz.
Machaj-Antosiewicz said she was born at Auschwitz on December 20, 1944, thanks to Leszczyńska's work. "This pilgrimage to Rome is to thank the Lord for having given us a figure like the Servant of God Stanisława, and for the good she poured out in favor of life, saving our little ones," said Nykiel, who is also the postulator of Leszczyńska's canonization cause.
Nykiel recalled the moment when the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele ordered Leszczyńska to kill every newborn in the camp. Her answer, he said, was: "You cannot kill a baby."
