From the Archives

Father Kasimir “Casey” Krutkowski came to Oklahoma in 1949, with 12 other priests from Poland recruited by Bishop Eugene McGuinness to serve in the diocese as one of many who could not return to their homeland after World War II. His path to the Sooner state is one of heroism and terror.

Born in Kostowiec, Poland, on March 14, 1903, he was ordained a priest on the day after Christmas, 1929. After parish work for four years, he became a chaplain in the Polish Army in 1934, five years before the fateful invasion of Poland by the Germans on Sept. 1, 1939 – signaling the beginning of the deadliest war in human history: the Second World War.

Marching toward Warsaw on Sept. 22, Father Casey and the troops of the 17th Polish Infantry Division were pinned down in a roadside ditch. Scrambling to the nearby woods and an abandoned farmhouse, he and his comrades intended to hide from the Germans but were immediately captured. Thus began a six-year odyssey of suffering and intense courage for the priest chaplain. Assigned to a prisoner of war camp, he was transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp. Two years later, the infamous concentration camp of Dachau was what he perceived as the “last stop.”

Enduring unspeakable horror, he was part of the medical experiments by the Nazis, his indomitable spirit refused to buckle under the intense cruelty and the inhuman actions of his captors.

When the 45th American Infantry Division, in which many Oklahomans served, arrived to liberate the camp, Father Kasimir was free for the first time in six years. True to form, he was again serving Polish soldiers in Italy a scant three weeks later. Assigned to the 2nd Polish Tank Division in Northumberland in the United Kingdom.  

Accepting Bishop McGuinness’ solicitation, he began work in the Diocese of Oklahoma City and Tulsa in July 1949. In a letter of recommendation from the Chaplain General of the Polish Resettlement Corps he stated: “Due to his unbroken character through many circumstances and sufferings enforced with high spirits I have to recommend him as a virtuous, zealous and hard-working priest.” He later recalled: “I wanted to work in Oklahoma because I was liberated by the 45th Division from Oklahoma.”

This extraordinary man began his Oklahoma journey in Poteau where he worked on mastering English. He was pastor and hospital chaplain at Muskogee, Wagoner, McAlester, Wilburton and finally at Union City where he is still fondly remembered.

After 25 years of priestly ministry, he retired in 1976. It was not until 1974 that Archbishop Quinn asked him to be incardinated as a priest in the Archdiocese. He gladly did so as this was now his home.

Surviving the ravages of war, and spending a large portion of his life in a foreign country, the faithful servant, Father Kasimir Krutkowski, died in his native Poland on July 2, 1978. His life is a perfect example of selfless, life-giving love, buoyed by an unshakeable faith despite unspeakable trauma and hardship.