1945 - Herve Seznec

June 5, 1945

Heyuan, Guangdong

Herve Marie Seznec was born in the coastal French province of Finistere on March 24, 1901. Growing up a devout Catholic, by the time he reached his teens Seznec had a burning desire to follow God and to serve him wherever the need was greatest. This desire resulted in him joining the Missions Etrangères de Paris in September 1924. At the Paris Mission, Seznec learned about the hundreds of martyrs who had spilled their blood for the gospel in the far-flung corners of the world. Seznec read the obituaries of dozens of French priests who had been butchered in China and Tibet dating back to the 18th century, and visited the Martyrs Room at the institute where various memorabilia from each martyr is stored for public display. At times the thought dawned in Seznec’s heart that perhaps he, too, would one day be martyred for the faith in China.

After being ordained a priest on June 29, 1928, Seznec departed for south China the following September. For the first several months in Guangdong Province he studied the difficult Cantonese language, and was appointed to Heyuan in the eastern part of the province. There, “Seznec picked up the load with great zeal and was pleased to share the gospel with many enquirers. In 1933 he recorded 65 adult baptisms; in 1934, 115 of them.”[1]

Hervey Seznec was so focused on helping the believers entrusted to his care that he only travelled outside Heyuan once a year, to attend the missionary retreat in Hong Kong. During World War II Heyuan was not occupied by the Japanese, so Seznec was able to continue his work unabated, although he recorded a sharp drop off in interest during those difficult years. On June 5, 1945, the Japanese passed through Heyuan while staging a retreat. They discovered a foreign-made weapon inside the home of a notable citizen of the town and concluded that Seznec must have provided it to him, as he was the only foreigner living there. Herve Seznec was arrested and taken by raft towards the Japanese headquarters at Huizhou. While they travelled, “they were suddenly ambushed by Chinese men on both sides of the river near the village of Songtao. Seznec received a bullet in his head, and died instantly.”[2]

1. My translation of the Biographical Note of Herve Seznec in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris, China Biographies and Obituaries, 1900-1999.
2. Biographical Note of Herve Seznec in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.