At the beginning of the First World War, on 18 November 1914, sixteen-year-old Karolina was abducted from her home and taken into a nearby forest by a Tsarist soldier. After a valiant but hopeless struggle to defend her dignity and innocence, the girl died a martyr's death. Her mangled corpse was dumped on the edge of the forest on 4 December 1914.

In the forest, a mound of stones with an oak cross and a marble memorial plaque was raised at the site where the corpse was found.

 Even though only a few hundred people lived in Karolina’s village, around 3,000 people attended her funeral on Sunday, 6 December 1914. The funeral became a patriotic and religious occasion for local residents convinced that they were attending the funeral of a martyr. In 1917, with the participation of Bishop Leon Wałęga, the remains of the deceased were exhumed, placed in a metal coffin, and moved from the parish cemetery to a tomb near the church in Zabawa.

During the beatification process, on 6 October 1981, Karolina's remains were placed in a sarcophagus on the porch of the church in Zabawa. On 10 June 1987, Pope Saint John Paul II proclaimed the teenager Blessed, and her relics were transferred from the church vestibule to the sarcophagus under the mensa of the main altar of the Holy Trinity Church – the Sanctuary of Blessed Karolina. Blessed Karolina Kózka is the patron saint of virgins, children and young people.

The trail of Karolina Kózka’s martyrdom runs from the site of the Blessed’s home to the spot in the forest where the Russian soldier assaulted the young girl. On the 18th of each month, the faithful and pilgrims gather here to follow the Stations of the Cross along the route with fourteen stations, where excerpts from Blessed Karolina's biography and reflections on her life and attitude are read.

The Kózek family house has not survived to the present day – a chapel with a museum was erected in its place.