Man convicted over death of 100-year-old Christian pensioner who survived Holocaust

Zofija Kaczan, a Nazi prison camp survivor, died in hospital on 6th June 2018 from pneumonia – a condition brought on by injuries she sustained in the attack one week previously.

The Polish-born Christian was left bleeding in a street after being knocked to the ground and having her handbag stolen by 40-year-old Artur Waszkiewicz. She had been on her way to church.

 

A spokeswoman for the Polish community of St Maksymilian Kolbe said: “Despite the pain and suffering that she was in for the last week of her life, she had the capacity to pray for her attacker before she died.

“We believe she has found peace in the arms of her Heavenly Father.”

Mr Waszkiewicz from Hilary Road in Shepherd’s Bush, west London is being told to expect a “lengthy” jail term when he is sentenced at Derby Crown Court on Thursday.

 

Ms Kaczan suffered multiple injuries – including a broken neck and cheekbone – in the attack in the Normanton area of Derby.

She survived a Nazi labour camp during World War II where she was forced to work in factories and even received the death penalty on her birthday.

 

The spokeswoman for the Polish community of St Maksymilian Kolbe continued: “We would like to thank all the people who have been involved in bringing the perpetrator of the crime against Zofija Kaczan to justice.

“Mrs Kaczan was an active member of our community, who although she had reached the milestone of 100 years, enjoyed her life going to church, shopping, having her hair done and attending the lunches at the Polish Centre followed by bingo.

 

“She had a very difficult early life. Coming to Derby in 1949, she had found a degree of stability and tranquillity. That tranquillity was shattered by the brutal events of May 28, 2018.”

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A drug addict has been convicted over the death of a Christian pensioner he mugged on a street in Derby last year.