- Donor Stories
A Promise Preserved
When Father Henry Denis was a prisoner of war during World War II, he made a vow to the Blessed Mother.
If his life was spared, he would build a shrine in her honor. Years later, in Arapahoe, Nebraska, that promise became visible beside St. Germanus Catholic Church. Stone by stone, gift by gift, prayer by prayer, the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine took shape as a lasting sign of gratitude, peace, and faith.
Today, the Our Lady of Fatima Fund, a Donor Designated Fund benefiting St. Germanus Parish in Arapahoe, helps preserve that sacred story. Established through the generosity of an anonymous donor, the fund is open to anyone who would like to make a gift.
For those who love this place, the fund also offers a way to keep Fr. Denis’ promise alive.
Special thanks to Father Ken Wehrs, Pastor at St. John the Baptist Church in Cambridge, Nebraska, for providing us with the full history of the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine.
A Priest in the Shadow of War
Henry Denis was born Dec. 31, 1909, in Goworowo, Poland. By the beginning of World War II, he was serving as a Polish military chaplain with the rank of captain. Less than 20 days after the war began, he was captured by the Germans on Sept. 19, 1939, when he stayed behind after a battle in Kutno to bury 37 soldiers. That act of mercy led to nearly six years of captivity.
At first, Fr. Denis and other chaplains were told they would be released under the Geneva Convention. For roughly 15 minutes, they were considered free. When the Gestapo arrived, however, the priests were declared political enemies of the state.
Fr. Denis was first imprisoned at Buchenwald. Later, he was transferred to Dachau. He endured starvation, forced labor, illness, and punishment. He witnessed death almost daily and was forbidden to live his priesthood openly. “For us, the offering of the Mass, confessions and reciting the rosary—all this was prohibited under the penalty of death,” he recalled in a 1971 interview. “Two Austrian priests were caught praying the rosary; they were killed on the spot.”
Instead of praying out loud, Fr. Denis counted the Rosary on his fingers.
A Number Called, a Life Spared
In 1944, Fr. Denis was subjected to medical experiments, including repeated malaria injections. He believed he was destined for the final injections, the ones he had seen kill others. During those dark days, a fellow prisoner, a German priest named Father Joseph Kentenich, spoke words that stayed with him.
“You will live,” he told Fr. Denis. “The Americans will liberate us. Christ will save a number of priests to give witness to the world. You will be among them. Pray the rosary. There will be peace. Remember Our Lady of Fatima. Spread her message of peace. To preserve freedom, we must pray, do penance, and we must sacrifice!”
On Oct. 7, 1944, the Feast of the Holy Rosary, Fr. Denis was standing in a long, cold, rainy roll call at Dachau. Prisoners were being counted. The dead were brought out and placed in line with the living. At that moment, he prayed. “The Rosary took me up there, into a different world,” he later wrote. “There were moments that I did not hear anything.”
Fr. Denis’ name and number were called, but he did not hear them. To fail to report meant death. But when the prisoners returned to camp, no one called for him again. The Nazis had taken enough victims that day.
A dear friend, Father Francis Dachtera, had also been called. “He never came back,” he said.
And it was on that day, October 7, 1944, that I made a promise, a vow. If I ever leave the camp alive, I would give the Blessed Mother some kind of visible gratitude—maybe a little shrine.
A New Home in Nebraska
Dachau was liberated on April 29, 1945, five years, seven months, and 11 days after Fr. Denis’ capture. He was gravely ill. His weight was recorded at 90 pounds.
After the war, he avoided returning to Communist-controlled Poland and made his way to Italy. There, he began sharing images of Our Lady of Czestochowa, already seeking some visible way to express gratitude for Mary’s intercession.
Eventually, he learned that the Diocese of Lincoln needed priests. “America is my goal,” he responded. “Father, help me!” Bishop Louis B. Kucera welcomed him to Nebraska with words of warmth and freedom.
“Father Denis,” the bishop wrote, “come! Come as to your own home. Healthy or sick! There will always be some kind of work here for you… Forget the past! Ours is a free land! Come, I will welcome you.”
In 1948, Fr. Denis arrived in Lincoln. After brief assignments in Grafton and Denton, he was assigned in 1949 to St. Germanus Parish in Arapahoe, with a mission at St. Michael Church in Oxford. The promise he made in Dachau came with him.
A Second Miracle Opens the Way
Fr. Denis longed to build the shrine, but parish needs came first. St. Michael Church in Oxford needed major repairs, including being moved and having a basement dug. The parishioners were generous, but few. Then, on Oct. 7, 1954—exactly 10 years after the day his life had been spared in Dachau—Fr. Denis celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving.
That same day, a man named Bernard Piska knocked on his door. Mr. Piska had grown up attending church in Oxford. He wanted to give back. He offered to leave 120 acres of land and the proceeds of his estate to St. Michael Church. Fr. Denis turned to his housekeeper, Thecla, and said, “If all of this is true, what this man says, that’s a miracle.” Mr. Piska replied, “I don’t know what it means for you, but if you see this as a miracle, the miracle you have.”
After Mr. Piska’s death in 1955, his gift provided enough to care for the parish’s needs. It also opened the door for Fr. Denis to begin building the shrine he had promised.
The Shrine is Built
Fr. Denis began raising funds for a shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary, receiving gifts from nearly every state. Some people sent money. Others sent stones and seashells to be incorporated into the shrine. In August 1956, seven years after Fr. Denis arrived in Arapahoe, the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine was completed beside St. Germanus.
At the center stands Our Lady of Fatima. Around her are angels, the three shepherd children—Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta—and figures of sheep and cattle. Over the decades, trees, flowers, memorials, plaques, and prayer spaces have been added.
Fr. Denis expressed his hope simply. “May she stand there forever,” he said, “with her prayer for peace, and her message for our prayers, for our penance, for our sacrifices, to preserve our life and our freedom. God bless America!”
A Living Place of Pilgrimage
The shrine has continued to draw visitors, pilgrims, and prayerful hearts for generations. In 2017, Pope Francis designated the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine as an international place of pilgrimage for the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions. Pilgrims came from several states for a 16-mile walking pilgrimage from Cambridge to Arapahoe, carrying a statue of Our Lady of Fatima along the way. The following day, Bishop James Conley celebrated Mass at the shrine, with hundreds gathered outside.
In the Jubilee Year of Hope in 2024, Pope Francis again named the shrine a place of pilgrimage. The shrine still receives visitors every week of the year. Some come with tour groups. Some come for Mass. Others come quietly, carrying a private prayer.
A Legacy Worth Preserving
Today, St. Germanus Parish includes 39 families across 419 square miles in Frontier, Gosper, and Furnas Counties. Parishioners continue to care for the shrine with deep devotion. Volunteers give hundreds of hours each year. Seasonal cleanup days bring the parish together for labor, prayer, and a potluck meal. The care is personal because the shrine is personal.
Through the Our Lady of Fatima Fund, the Catholic Foundation of Southern Nebraska offers a way for today’s donors to join that story. A gift to the fund helps support St. Germanus Parish as it preserves the shrine, welcomes pilgrims, and carries forward Fr. Denis’ message of peace and prayer.
