Enter the world of those sentenced to life imprisonment
There are places that we – ordinary people – do not have access to. One of them is prison. We are separated from the convicts by high walls and barbed wire. Prisons are often not on the outskirts of cities, so prisoners live right next to the real life they dream of and would like to return to. It is true that convicts have access to televisions and telephones, but do they even slightly alleviate the pain and loneliness? Some hope to leave prison, others – to shorten their sentences, but in the Białystok Detention Center there are also prisoners who will never walk freely in the world again. Why? Because the court sentenced them to life imprisonment.
In the Białystok Detention Center – not far from the train station, six hundred and fifty convicts, including fifty women, are serving their sentences. The prisoners come from different towns and are of different religions. There are Catholics, Lutherans and Pentecostals.
Some prisoners admit in conversations that it was only in prison that they discovered God. Some anew, others – once again. Due to my profession, thanks to the officers of the Prison Service, headed by Lt. Col. Wojciech Piotr Januszewski (died 26.07.2024), the then director of the Białystok Detention Center, I had the opportunity to cross the prison walls and talk to convicts who had been sentenced to life behind bars for the crimes they had committed.
A great talent discovered behind bars
It was a warm November day. In the educator's room, accompanied by officers of the Prison Service, I was waiting for another meeting with the prison. Suddenly, a powerfully built man enters. At first glance, he was menacing. He apologizes from the doorway for only coming now, but he was at work. He sits down opposite and smiles...
Photo. Białystok Detention Center
“What happened that we meet behind bars on such a beautiful day?” I ask. “Well, what... Such is life. I forgot to follow the principles of faith,” replies Krzysztof, sentenced to life imprisonment. He has been in custody for over twenty years. However, before I went to meet this prisoner, the director of the detention center – Lt. Col. Wojciech Piotr Januszewski showed me the icons that Krzysztof writes. I was shocked that someone in custody could create such beautiful works and have such great talent! “I have always had the desire to write icons. Even as a child, I admired icons and paintings in churches. Writing icons is spiritual contact,” says the prisoner. Krzysztof participated in the evangelization Alpha Course six times before the pandemic.
Prisoners usually discovered their talents behind bars. There are those who paint beautifully, there are convicts who create beautiful boxes or other decorations. The products created in custody are donated to charity events, in which prisoners are eager to get involved.
“I feel resentment towards myself”
“It is a form of prayer. I believe that good returns. And there is no good here,” adds Krzysztof. The man does not hide the fact that he misses what is normal. And he mentions family warmth first and foremost.
After a while, he says: “I led a mindless life. I worked in an escort agency. Everything was on my mind... These murders were not planned. Before, I went to church, and later I had no time for it. The more a person scares, the more he begins to understand what good is,” he says.
There is a lot of time in prison for thoughts and reflection. The conversation with the murderer prompted me to ask about resentment towards God, since the convict says that he used to go to church... “I feel resentment towards myself, not God, because I distanced myself from Him, not He from me.”
A murderer who believes in eternal life
At the end of the conversation, I asked about hope for the future. “I have no hope for early release. I do no harm, I try to live well. I am tired of being bad,” he says with a slight smile. “I have hope for the future, but not in this life. I believe in eternal life. I believe in Jesus, I love Jesus,” the prisoner confesses.
Krzysztof had the status “N” – dangerous – in prison for several years. In 2002, he murdered two men with an axe – the owners of an escort agency, and tried to kill three others. For murders with particular cruelty, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.