In the October 26, 1963, issue of America, Father Ciszek released a brief statement that read in part:
I went into the interior of Russia of my own free will, spurred by my conscience and a desire to do good in the line of my vocation. In spite of seeming failures, I cherish no resentment or regrets for what has transpired in the past years. I have the highest regard for the Russian people, because they are a good and hospitable folk who are very sincere and hearty in their relations with others who truly live and labor among them. Having lived so many years with the working class, as one of them, I have not experienced anything antagonistic on their part toward me.
That’s a shocking statement, Christlike in its simplicity and power. Jesus of Nazareth forgave his executioners from the cross as he left his earthly life. Ciszek forgave his captors as he left the Soviet Union. Of course the Jesuit priest is also saying good-bye to the many friends he met, particularly toward the end of his time in Russia, but it is still an astonishing statement of forgiveness.
Again and again in his book, Ciszek shows the value of forgiveness, expressing anger but not bitterness, and certainly not hatred, when he speaks of his persecutors. Also, his mistreatment by some never blinds him to the goodness of most—his fellow prisoners, those suffering under Communist rule, even some of his guards. Clearly this forgiving stance helped him to endure those twenty-three years. (Notice how, at the end of the book, he still has a great talent for friendship with the Russian people.) Forgiveness is a double gift. It is a gift to the one you forgive, but also a gift to yourself, freeing you from the prison of resentment.
So, a second question: Where might I be called to let go of resentments?
Finally, Father Ciszek treasures his relationship with God. As should be clear from even the most cursory reading of the book, this stance is at the heart of his story. His life is seen through the lens of faith, and his life makes no sense otherwise. During his time in Lubianka he decides to replicate the daily schedule (ordo) of the Jesuit novitiate, rising at a certain time, saying his prayers, doing his examination of conscience (a review of the day), and reciting as much as he can remember of the Mass. Later, in the camps, when he is able (and even when there’s danger of being discovered), he celebrates the Mass. At times he specifically says that prayer fills him with consolation, as when he feels that he is about to be executed. Prayer is as important for him as food.
Over and over, when Ciszek finds himself sad or worried or angry, he prays. For some, this might seem to be simply a refuge. And part of that is true; prayer was one way that Ciszek could find a measure of solace in the midst of his often hellish existence. But it was more than that; it was his reconnection with God. In other words, prayer is not simply a refuge—it is a relationship. In prayer he connects with the deepest part of himself, the part that cannot be eradicated by any torture, interrogation, beating, isolation, or hardship, no matter how terrible. God’s relationship to Walter Ciszek, and to us, can never be broken, not even in death.
That is why this book is not entitled How I Survived or My Time in Siberia, but With God in Russia. This is a story about the relationship between God and a person who wanted to give himself totally to God’s service. Our lives are also the stories about our relationship with God. Each of us could write a book, perhaps not as dramatic or harrowing as Father Ciszek’s, showing that God is with each of us, no matter where we are.
As an aside, some of Ciszek’s most powerful insights happened without the aid of any confessor, pastoral counselor, spiritual director, or retreat director. Although he occasionally meets fellow believers (and fellow priests) with whom he can converse about spiritual matters, for the most part during his time in the camps he deepens his relationship with God on his own. To me, this makes his witness all the more astonishing.
So, finally, a third question: How might I use Father Ciszek’s example to deepen my relationship with God?
Walter Ciszek spent the rest of his life at a Jesuit community at Fordham University, in New York, which also served as the John XXIII Center for Eastern Studies. The Jesuit priest who had once been thought by his brother Jesuits to be dead spent many lively years counseling men and women, providing spiritual direction, and running retreats. He was beloved by his brother Jesuits, his family, and his friends. Today the building where he lived is called Ciszek Hall and is now a community for young Jesuits in training.
Father Ciszek died in 1984 and is buried at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, which was originally Ciszek’s novitiate, the place where he first heard the mysterious call to the East.
Recently I spoke to the Jesuit superior at Ciszek Hall at Fordham. As a young novice, he had once heard Ciszek preach during a Mass.
“I’ll never forget that homily,” said my friend, “or how he spoke about the Gospel.”
I asked him how he would sum it up.
“Convincing,” he said.
Walter Ciszek, pray for us.
James Martin, SJ
James Martin, SJ, is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America magazine, and author of several books including Jesus: A Pilgrimage, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and Seven Last Words.
Acknowledgments
ONLY ON MY arrival in America did I become fully aware of the many people whose generous efforts went into effecting my return. In the first place, I find I owe a great debt of gratitude to Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, and their White House staffs, as also to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, for the concern they showed over my case. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Honorable Thaddeus Machrowicz, former Congressman from Michigan, and Matthew S. Szymczak, former Governor of the Federal Reserve, for their efforts on my behalf.
Especial thanks, of course, are due to the Secretary of State, and particularly to Mr. Robert Murphy, Deputy Under Secretary of State, who started the proceedings toward my release, as well as to the Department of State Officers at the American Embassy in Moscow and in Washington who through all the eight years since my case first became known gave of their time and energy to bring about my release.
I owe another special debt of thanks to my fellow Jesuits, Father Daniel E. Power, SJ, and Father Edward W. McCawley, SJ. It was Father Power who first brought information about my case to the attention of the State Department, and Father McCawley who gave so generously and unsparingly of himself and his time to keep my case alive and help bring it to a successful outcome.
To my sister, Helen Gearhart, I am sincerely and deeply grateful for all her untiring efforts in Washington on my behalf. She and my other sister, Sister Mary Evangeline, O.S.F., were a constant source of encouragement to me by the deep sisterly concern so evident in their many letters and their unfailing confidence during the long years of waiting and sometimes disappointment.
Finally, I want to thank all my other brothers and sisters, my fellow Jesuits and the many other priests, the Bernardine Sisters and many other nuns, the many friends and relatives and all those whose names I do not even yet know, especially the schoolchildren, whose prayers and offerings made possible my eventual return.
May the good effects of all those prayers continue still to “work together unto good” for the many people to whom I devoted so many years in Russia.
Walter J. Ciszek, SJ
About the Author
WALTER J. CISZEK, SJ, (1904–1984), a native of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, was an American Jesuit missionary priest who spent twenty-three years in the Soviet Union before and during the Cold War.
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Praise for With God in Russia
“. . . A human and historical document of compelling interest.”
—The Atlantic
“. . . The great story of spirit and courage, written by the Catholic priest who literally disappeared after being taken prisoner in Russia.”
—Catholic Sentinel
“His integrity and his religio
us faith light up his sturdy account of what he endured and his report on what he saw, an American prisoner’s view of the Soviet Union.”
—New York Post
“. . . At once an unusually penetrating picture of Siberian life and also an ennobling insight into a simple and unpretentious man who would never admit to being one of God’s heroes.”
—The Sign
“. . . Holds the reader in a grip of suspense that the late Ian Fleming would have envied.”
—Pittsburgh Press
“Father Ciszek tells his story crisply, modestly, in a matter-of-fact style. There is no trace of self-pity in what he writes and, what is more amazing, none of anger or rancor over what he was forced to undergo. From these objective pages, however, there gradually emerges a picture of a man of invincible faith and heroic fortitude, who is sustained by a great love for God and his fellow man. His story is highly recommended as a worthwhile reading experience for one and all.”
—Best Sellers
“. . . An incisive portrayal of the struggle for existence in a Russian prison camp. The very simplicity of presentation makes it unforgettable.”
—Louisville Times
“A truly inspiring story, to our age what Dostoevsky’s ‘House of the Dead’ was to his.”
—Ave Maria
“This is really the story of a non-spy who stayed out in the cold. It builds in interest and suspense from page to page.”
—Denver Rocky Mountain News
“More than a superbly interesting adventure story, With God in Russia is a moving document of a man’s faith in his God and his God’s goodness in allowing him to live through his ordeal.”
—The Advocate
Credits
Cover design: Faceout Studio
Copyright
WITH GOD IN RUSSIA. Copyright © 2017 by America Press Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Originally published as With God in Russia in the United States in 1964 by The America Press.
ISBN 978-0-06-264162-5
EPub Edition June 2017 ISBN 978-0-062-64193-9
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1. The secret police, afterward, according to changes in Kremlin policy, known as the NKGB, MGB, MVD, and KGB.
2. Germany invaded Russia on June 21, 1941.
3. The numbers denote the section and subsections of the criminal code under which the prisoner has been accused, convicted, or sentenced. “58:10:2” is “agitation with intent to subvert.”
1. The police, also called “militia.” In 1954, after Beria’s downfall, the police ministry was split into the MVD and the KGB, the internal security or “secret” police.
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