Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Priest and Martyr
(1894–1941)

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe was born on January 8, 1894, at Zdunska Wola in Russian-occupied Poland. As a boy he had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary who offered him two crowns, one white signifying purity, the other red signifying martyrdom, and asked which he would choose. He said he would accept both. He entered the Franciscan Conventuals and was ordained a priest in Rome in 1918, having earned doctorates in philosophy and theology.

In Rome he founded the Militia of the Immaculata, a movement of consecration to Mary for the conversion of sinners and the renewal of the Church, which spread rapidly throughout the world. Back in Poland he established a vast complex near Warsaw called Niepokalanow, City of the Immaculate, which became the largest Franciscan friary in the world, publishing religious newspapers and magazines with a circulation of millions. He also founded a mission in Japan and began one in India.

When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Kolbe used Niepokalanow to shelter thousands of refugees, including many Jews. He was arrested by the Gestapo in February 1941 and sent to Auschwitz as prisoner 16670. In July 1941, after a prisoner escaped, the camp commander selected ten men to die of starvation in a bunker as a reprisal. One of those selected, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out that he had a wife and children. Kolbe stepped forward and asked to take his place.

For two weeks Kolbe sustained the other condemned men with prayer and singing. He was the last to survive, and was finally killed by a lethal injection on August 14, 1941, the vigil of the Assumption. He was canonised as a martyr by Pope John Paul II in 1982, with Gajowniczek present at the ceremony. His feast is celebrated on August 14th.