Biography of Minna Kugel (Sr. Teresa of the Child Jesus, OP)

Vocation: Clergy and Religious
Gender: Female
Status: Survived
Approximate Dates: 1912 - 1977
Names and Aliases:
  • Kugel', Minna Rakhmielovna (Tereza)
  • Kugel, Minna
  • Sister Teresa of the Child Jesus, OP
Known Locations:
  • Orekhovo-Zuevo (Russia)
  • I︠A︡roslavlʹ (I︠A︡roslavskai︠a︡ oblastʹ, Russia)
  • Kostroma (Kostromskai︠a︡ oblastʹ, Russia)
  • Krasnodar (Russia)
  • Moscow (Russia)
  • Bri︠a︡nsk (Russia)
  • Kaluga (Kaluzhskai︠a︡ oblastʹ, Russia)
  • Vilnius (Lithuania)
Source Pages: p. 686-687
Biographical Description: Born in 1912 in Orekhove-Zueve, Moscow province. She finished school in 1929 in Yaroslavl and returned to her parents in Kostroma, where she became acquainted with two Dominican Sisters – Sr. Stefania Gorodets and Sr. Margaret Krylevskaya. In 1931 she became a Catholic and in 1932 went to Krasnodar where she joined the Dominican Sisters and took the name Sr. Teresa. October 6, 1933 – arrested in Krasnodar. Transported to Moscow and imprisoned in Butyrka Prison for interrogation in the second case against Anna Abrikosova and others. February 19, 1934 – sentenced to three years in corrective labor camps [OGPU Collegium]. Sent to Bamlag; released November 16, 1935. From December 1935 she lived in Bryansk; in October 1937 she moved to Maloyaroslavets, which was occupied by the Germans during the war. On August 21, 1942, after Maloyaroslavets had been liberated by the Red Army, Sr. Teresa was arrested and charged with collaborating with the Germans. October 31, 1942 – sentenced to five years in corrective labor camps as a “socially dangerous element.” Sent to Temlag; released March 25, 1947. She then lived in Maloyaroslavets; in the autumn of 1948 she moved to Kaluga. April 3, 1949 – arrested on charges of “espionage activity on behalf of the Vatican.” She refused to sign the indictment. July 2, 1949 – deemed psychologically incompetent and September 17 sent for coercive treatment at a special hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. She was held in the Kazan special hospital; then October 15, 1952, transferred to a regular psychiatric hospital. After her release in 1953 she lived in Vilnius and worked at first as a cleaning woman/custodian at the market, then as a nurse in the railroad hospital. She undertook the revival of the religious community, having arranged for official invitations to Dominican Sisters who had been released from homes for invalids. She died December 2, 1977, in Vilnius after an operation. Sources: Osipova (1996), p. 178; Osipova (1999), p. 333; Abrikosova et al. (1934); Ott et al.