“I have forgiven from my heart all those who contributed to my death. Please, do not hold anything against anyone, but forgive all from your heart, as I do.”
Helen was born on May 1, 1894, in Brno, Czechoslovakia. She was the 6th daughter of Anton Kafka, a shoemaker, and his wife, Maria Stehlik. At the age of 2, her family moved to a Czech migrant community in Vienna, Austria. In her youth, she worked as a housemaid and then a salesgirl in a tobacco shop.
At the age of 19 she became a nurse at the local hospital where she met and became interested in the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity. Despite being surrounded by the glamor and comforts of the city, she was attracted to the Sister’s simple and self-giving way of life. The following year she joined and was given the name Maria Restituta.
She returned to work at the hospital, was promoted, and in 1919, after WWI, she was transferred to another hospital in Mödling and became its lead surgical nurse for 20 years. She was confident and energetic as well as a compassionate and motherly helper and companion to patients.
In 1938, when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, she was very vocal in her opposition to the regime. Her Catholic beliefs compelled her to speak out against the Socialist tyranny. Despite the risks, she advocated for justice, and called Hitler a madman. When a new hospital wing was constructed, she kept to Catholic tradition and hung a Crucifix in every room.
The Nazi authorities ordered their removal but she refused to comply. Officials wanted her arrested but she was indispensable to the hospital. A doctor who supported the Socialists betrayed her and she was arrested on false charges of aiding and abetting the enemy and of plotting high treason. The Nazi official and private secretary to Hitler, Martin Bormann, determined that her execution would serve as “effective intimidation” for other opponents.
While in prison, she selflessly cared for other prisoners, regardless of who they were. Even the communist prisoners spoke highly of her, recognizing her genuine concern and kindness. From prison she wrote a letter; “It does not matter how far we are separated from everything, no matter what is taken from us: the faith that we carry in our hearts is something no one can take from us. In this way we build an altar in our own hearts.”
She spent over a year on death-row and the Nazi’s offered her freedom one last time if she abandoned her religious community, but she remained loyal to her Faith and fellow Sisters.
On March 30, 1943, she was beheaded in the Vienna Regional Court for her Faith and opposition.
For God’s Glory.
