#99: The Incredible Story of Doctor Wanda Poltawska and Pope John Paul II (part 1)

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#99: The incredible story of Dr. Wanda Poltawska, Pope John Paul II (part 1)

Wanda Wiktoria Półtawska (born 2 November 1921 in Lublin)[1] is a Polish physician and author. She was a victim of the Ravensbrück concentration camp, just north of Berlin, having been arrested in February 1941 and charged with assisting the Polish resistance movement. She was used as a human guinea pig and became the subject of various medical experiments. She spent four years in the camp but survived her ordeal, and afterwards wrote an account of her experiences, And I Am Afraid of My Dreams.[2] She later married and had four children.[3]

Her memoir of the life and conditions for the women held in the camp has provided material for other books such as Ravensbrück 

 She had decided during her incarceration that if she survived she would become a doctor, and this is what she did. She completed her medical studies in 1951 and obtained her doctorate in psychiatry in 1964. 

Półtawska collaborated with her compatriot Pope John Paul II, influencing him on such topics as contraception and sexuality.[4] When, in 1962, Poltawska was ill with cancer and told she had only 18 months to live, the monk Padre Pio was asked by the Pope, then Bishop Wojtyła, to pray for Półtawska. After this her cancerous growth disappeared and she no longer needed an operation to remove it. 

Why do I want to tell this story? Because I am astounded by the evil that I see around me today, I am astounded by how many turn a blind eye to it. I am astounded by how many take part in it. I am astounded by how many people sit either naively or fearfully allow evil to come right into their hearts, their homes, their marriages and the lives of their children.

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Reference for Daily Scripture Reading: The Magnificat

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