Saint priest - martyr Nikolai
Saint martyr Nikolai Holec was born in 1907 in the Kotlaczów village (Żytomierz district) at the eastern part of Wołyń region. He lived in the city of Włodzimierz Wołyński after the war. In the thirties he finished theology in Bulgaria. Nikolai got married soon afterwards and in the autumn of 1935 he was ordained a priest. The saint was sent to Obsza village in Biłgoraj region, where he was a curate in the Orthodox parish in Babice. Nikolai had started his work in difficult circumstances, being a part-time priest he lived only from the money collected from parishioners. Two years later, in 1937, he was transferred to Diocese of Wołyń and became the curate in the Orthodox parish in Dlugoszyje (Dubieńsk district). Nikolai was then sent to Kohylno village (Włodzimierz district), which was subordinated to the Orthodox cathedral parish in Włodzimierz Wołyński, where he became the curate of the cathedral. During the war time the Saint returned to Chełm region. He was appointed parish priest in Nowosiółki near Poturzyn in Tomaszów region. Nikolai was helping people irrespective of their origin or faith during the tough times. He died as a martyr together with the group of parishioners in Nowosiółki in April 1944. Nikolai was taken by force from the church where he was baptizing a person and was tortured before the death. Saint martyr Nikolai was buried in Nowosiółki near the place where the Orthodox church was located before being destroyed in 1938. However the exact grave was not found and nowadays that place is an arable land.