Witness to Evil - Young John Paul II, Part 5

After Karol Wojtyla told his friends he was going to be a priest, they tried to change his mind.  He was solid in his decision, however, and sought the help of Archbishop Sapieha in October of 1942.

All studying, for all higher-education seeking Poles, had to be done in secret.  One of Karol's fellow students was found out - then killed. 

The future Pope began to wonder ... others are losing their lives, why not me?  Wojtyla began to believe he was being saved for a purpose.

Then ... one day ... the Nazis came for him.

See, also:

Witness to Evil - Young John Paul II, Part 1

Witness to Evil - Young John Paul II, Part 2

Witness to Evil - Young John Paul II, Part 3

Witness to Evil - Young John Paul II, Part 4

Witness to Evil - Young John Paul II, Part 6

Credits

Clip from "Young John Paul II - Witness to Evil," online courtesy BBC.

The BBC provides background information regarding this docudrama:

Drama-documentary telling the story of five years which transformed the life of Karol Wojtyla and set him on the path to the Vatican.

The man who would become John Paul II was 19 when the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939. He had no intention of joining the church, but the devastating experience of Nazi occupation led him first to join the underground resistance and then to risk his life studying in secret to become a priest.

Interviews with key survivors from the period who knew him well, and the Pope's own writings, are combined in a powerful exploration of the young John Paul II's coming of age, including his brushes with death and the horrors he witnessed that helped to shape his thinking.

"Young John Paul II - Witness to Evil" (2008)

Director
Philip Smith

Producer
Leanne Klein

Writer
Philip Smith

Starring John Sackville
as Karol Wojtyla

Narrator
Richard Lintern

Wall-to-Wall for the BBC.  Originally broadcast, BBC One.