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85th anniversary of the death of Father Maximilian Kolbe

On 14 August 1941, exactly 85 years ago, Franciscan friar Father Maximilian Maria Kolbe was killed in the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz. The anniversary of this event was commemorated at the Memorial. A solemn Mass was celebrated near Block 11, which housed the camp prison and where the friar was murdered.

Several hundred people took part in the ceremony, including bishops, among them Bishop Roman Pindel, Ordinary of the Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec, priests and religious, representatives of regional and local authorities, the Museum, and the faithful who reached the Memorial on pilgrimage from the St Maximilian Center in Harmęże and from the parish of St Maximilian the Martyr in Oświęcim. The service was presided over by Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Warsaw.

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“This place is a special symbol and sign. It is an exceptional place because it also says a great deal to people today. It speaks through the meaning of what happened here and what, unfortunately, is also present in our contemporary world. That is why we must come here to reflect on Auschwitz, to pray, but also to consider the meaning of this place for our lives today,” he said.

Cardinal Nycz recalled that Father Maximilian Kolbe’s decision to sacrifice his life was above all a testimony to recognizing the dignity of another human being: “Maximilian gave his life for an anonymous person, someone previously unknown to him, because he saw in him, as in every human being, the dignity of humanity.”

“Love of neighbour, which has its source in God’s love for humanity, is the measure of our Christianity. It is precisely in our love, in our capacity to love our neighbour, that the nature of our being Christian is revealed,” he added.

At the end of his homily, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz related this message to our contemporary life: “We want to be open to our neighbours. We want to be brothers and sisters to them, regardless of the country they come from, whether from the east, the west or the south. And in large part, in the majority, we probably are. Let us not allow ourselves to be dominated by the voices we hear in the media or read on social media. Let us follow the path of love, the love that will certainly lead us to goodness.”

During the anniversary commemoration, flowers were laid at the Death Wall in the courtyard of Block 11, as well as on the camp roll-call square near Block 17, where on 29 July 1941 Maximilian Kolbe offered his life for his fellow prisoner Franciszek Gajowniczek. Church hierarchs and Franciscans also prayed in cell no. 18 in the basement of Block 11, where St Maximilian was murdered.

“St Maximilian Maria Kolbe remains one of the clearest witnesses to the victory of love over hatred. The anniversary of his death is not only an occasion for prayer and remembrance, but also an invitation to reflect on human dignity, responsibility for others, and the courage to bear witness to the Gospel in the contemporary world,” the organizers wrote.

Rajmund Kolbe was born on 8 January 1894 in Zduńska Wola. In 1910, he joined the Franciscan Order in Lwów, where he received the name Maximilian. 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 and publishing house in Niepokalanów near Warsaw. He was also a missionary in Japan.

He was arrested in Niepokalanów on 17 February 1941, where he served as superior, or guardian. After several months of investigation in the Pawiak prison in Warsaw, he was deported to Auschwitz on 29 May 1941.

When, at the end of July that year, in retaliation for the escape of a prisoner, the camp authorities ordered ten prisoners from the same block to be sentenced to death by starvation, one of those selected, Franciszek Gajowniczek, pleaded for his life to be spared because of his wife and children. Hearing these words, Father Kolbe stepped out of the ranks and proposed to the SS men that he take the place of the despairing prisoner. Karl Fritzsch, who was conducting the selection, agreed, and Father Kolbe joined the other prisoners who were taken to the basement of Block 11.
After two weeks, the cell was ordered to be emptied. Most of the prisoners were already dead, while some were still showing signs of life, among them Father Kolbe. The SS men therefore decided to kill the surviving prisoners with phenol injections.

He was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1971 and canonized by St John Paul II on 10 October 1982. In 1999, he was proclaimed by the Pope the patron saint of honorary blood donors. He is also the patron of the Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec.

"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.