Antoszewska, Klaryta, Sister, 1932-2014

Sister Klaryta Antoszewska was born as Ida Antoszewska on April 14, 1932 in Poniewierz, Lithuania to Maria Radziwilowicz and Wtadystaw Antoszewska. The Antoszewska family moved to Lodz, Poland shortly after her birth. During World War II, her father, Wtadystaw Antoszewska, took a position with the German forces in Russia as a doctor, and the Nazis captured and executed her mother, Maria Radziwilowicz, for assisting the Jewish population in the Lodz Ghetto. Sister Klaryta Antoszewska raised her two siblings until they were separated at the end of the war. She joined the Franciscan Sisters in Chojnice, Poland at the age of twenty. There, she taught courses and studied philology under Karol Jozef Wojtyla, better known as Pope Francis II . Sister Klaryta Antoszewska taught in Polish schools until she moved to Rome, Italy in 1969 to work at the Vatican Office of Peace and Justice. In 1976 she accompanied Sister Rosemary Lynch to the United States, and the two settled in Las Vegas, Nevada. They joined the anti-nuclear testing protesters immediately, and helped to establish the Lenten Desert Experience (LDE), a six week vigil at the Nevada Test Site, in 1982. The LDE, a precursor to the Nevada Desert Experience (NDE), actively protested nuclear testing in Nevada, the United States, and internationally. Sister Klaryta Antoszewska remained active in protesting nuclear testing until her death on March 17, 2014 at the Marian Convent in Santa Maria, California.

Sources:

Butigan, Kate. “A Nonviolent Lion for Justice.” Waging Nonviolence. March 22, 2014. Accessed January 9, 2020.

https://wagingnonviolence.org/2014/03/nonviolent-lion-justice/

“NDE’s Historical Timeline.” Nevada Desert Experience. Accessed January 9, 2020. http://nevadadesertexperience.org/history/timeline.htm

"Sister Klaryta Anotszewska OSF: 1932-2014.” Santa Maria Times. March 19, 2014. Accessed January 9, 2020. https://santamariatimes.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/sister-klaryta-antoszewska-osf/article_9f0b6aca-8f89-5181-a5e9-28b120fb767d.html