News
84th anniversary of the death of Father Maximilian Kolbe
Father Maximilian Maria Kolbe, a Franciscan friar, was killed in the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz 82 years ago on August 14, 1941. The anniversary of this event was commemorated at the Memorial. In front of Block 11, which housed the camp prison and in which the friar was murdered, a solemn Holy Mass was celebrated.
Several hundred people took part, including bishops, priests, friars, representatives of the provincial and local authorities, Museum, and the faithful. The ceremonies were presided over by Bishop Kazimierz Górny, and the homily was delivered by Bishop Roman Pindel.
“Beside the Death Block, where the evil of the camp was concentrated, we wish today to entrust to the one God all the victims, regardless of their nationality, religion, or creed. After all, ‘The Merciful’—that is the name of God among both Jews and Christians. We wish to pray for eternal peace, but also for peace within us and among us, especially when hatred, the desire for revenge, and even the ultimate extermination of opponents, groups, and entire nations multiply,” Bishop Pindel said.
“Here, in this place, man killed man on a massive scale, in various ways, including with the use of phenol, which was administered to take the life of Father Maksymilian, exhausted by hunger and thirst, but still alive,” the bishop continued.
“Yet this place also became a witness to the use of a completely different remedy. Christ gave it to those who believe in Him, and Father Maksymilian applied it here. The remedy and the way it is used are described by Jesus in today’s Gospel reading: ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you,’” Bishop Pindel emphasized.
During the anniversary commemoration, flowers were laid at the Death Wall in the courtyard of Block 11, as well as at the camp roll-call square by Block 17, where on July 29, 1941, Maksymilian Kolbe offered his life for fellow prisoner Franciszek Gajowniczek. Church leaders and Franciscans also prayed in cell No. 18 in the basement of Block 11, where St. Maksymilian was murdered.
Rajmund Kolbe was born on January 8, 1894, in Zduńska Wola. In 1910, he joined the Franciscan order in Lviv, taking the name Maksymilian. In 1912, he began studies in philosophy and theology in Rome, earning doctorates in both fields, and was ordained a priest. He returned to Poland in 1919. In 1927, he founded a monastery in Niepokalanów, near Warsaw, along with a publishing house. He also served as a missionary in Japan.
He was arrested at Niepokalanów on 17 February 1941, where he had served as superior and Prior. After several months of investigation in Warsaw's Pawiak prison, he was deported to Auschwitz on 29 May 1941. In the last days of July that year, following a prisoner's escape, the camp supervisor sentenced 10 inmates from the same unit to death by starvation in retaliation. Franciszek Gajowniczek, one of the accused, implored for mercy on behalf of his spouse and offspring. Hearing these words, Father Kolbe stepped out of line and approached the SS men with a proposal to take the place of the distraught prisoner. Karl Fritzsch, who carried out the selection, agreed, and Father Kolbe joined the other prisoners who were escorted to the cellar of Block 11.
After two weeks, an order was given to empty the cell. Most prisoners were already dead, but some still showed signs of life, among them Father Kolbe. Hence, the SS men decided to execute the surviving prisoners via phenol injections.
He was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1971 and canonised by St John Paul II on 10 October 1982. In 1999, the Pope proclaimed him the patron saint of honorary blood donors. He is also a patron of the Bielsko-Żywiec diocese.
---
"Christian clergy and religious life at Auschwitz" - is an online lesson presenting profiles of priests and seminarians, nuns, and clergy of other Christian churches incarcerated by the Germans at Auschwitz. It also contains the stories of later saints and blesseds, including Fr Maximilian Kolbe and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). The lesson also highlights various aspects of religious life in the camp practised by prisoners at the risk of their lives.
The lesson is available in English.
The profile of Father Kolbe is also presented in episode 23 of the podcast "On Auschwitz", while episode 31 addresses the fate of Christian clergy and religious life in KL Auschwitz.
