Rajmund Kolbe adopted the name Maximilian Maria in 1910. He then began preparing for the priesthood, a path his parents discouraged him from, though they themselves were very devout. This vocation led Father Maximilian to various places around the world, but above all to serving his fellow man. He performed this task until the end of his 47-year life. And its conclusion was tragic, though it gave life to another human being.
Maximilian Kolbe – Humble Franciscan and Effective Missionary
Rajmund Kolbe was born on January 8, 1894, in Zduńska Wola. He grew up in Łódź, and then his parents Maria and Juliusz Kolbe decided to move to Pabianice.
As a student, he was diligent and quite bright. He was to take over the Kolbe family business in the future. Fate, however, had other plans for young Rajmund.
When the boy was about 12 years old, the Mother of God supposedly appeared to him, bestowing upon him two crowns – of chastity and martyrdom. From that moment, Rajmund was more helpful at home, surprising his mother, who was accustomed to various antics of the young man.
In 1907, he entered the seminary in Lviv together with his brother Franciszek. Three years later, he began his novitiate with the Conventual Franciscans. It was then that he adopted the name by which he was later known – Maximilian Maria. By the early 1920s, he was already a double doctor – of philosophy and theology. He obtained these titles in Rome. In 1918, he was ordained a priest.
When he returned from Rome to Poland, he initiated a movement in honor of the Virgin Mary. During the interwar period, a periodical founded by Maximilian was published on quite a wide scale – „Knight of the Immaculata.” In the late 1920s, the friar also founded a monastery called Niepokalanów. It was the cradle for the creation of still other periodicals, such as „Mission Bulletin” and „Little Knight of the Immaculata.” Kolbe coordinated publishing activities with sweep and passion, the fruits of which are visible to this day.
In the first half of the 1930s, Maximilian Kolbe served as a missionary in Japan. He built a monastery there and also published „Knight of the Immaculata,” albeit in Japanese. Many people living there converted to Catholicism thanks to this activity and chose the religious path.
Maximilian hoped to devote himself completely to being a missionary. He thought that martyrdom might await him on this path. It turned out, however, that an even greater mission awaited him in his native country, to which he returned in 1936.
Arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau
Father Maximilian Kolbe’s martyrdom did not begin in Auschwitz. Shortly after the start of World War II, the Germans ordered the closure of the Franciscan monastery in Niepokalanów. On September 19, 1939, Kolbe was arrested along with over thirty fellow brothers. They stayed first in the camp at Łambinowice, then in Gębice, and finally in Ostrzeszów.
On December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the prisoners were allowed to return to Niepokalanów. There, Kolbe intensified efforts to continue publishing „Knight of the Immaculata,” whose circulation in 1939 reached one million copies. In February 1941, Father Maximilian was arrested again and transported to Pawiak.
He was imprisoned there for several months in terrible conditions, as can be imagined. Nothing is known about Father Maximilian being tortured. His person, however, aroused negative emotions at Szucha Avenue. One SS-man supposedly asked Kolbe, pointing to the cross hanging on the Franciscan’s habit, whether he believed „in that.” Each time the friar answered affirmatively, the SS-man hit him in the face. Finally, the latter left the cell, irritated.
It was ultimately decided that the Franciscan and 320 other Pawiak prisoners would go to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the German concentration camp. On May 28, 1941, they were ordered to board a wagon without windows, and the terrified convicts were transported to Oświęcim.
Stay in Oświęcim. Beginning of Hard Labor
The transport with prisoners arrived in the evening. The unloading itself was dramatic. It took place amid cruel beating and kicking. The convicts, including Kolbe, were tripped by SS-men, which additionally caused further blows.
Father Kolbe spent his first night in the camp bathhouse. There he prayed for the transport. In the morning, registration was carried out, and the prisoners, dressed in dirty striped uniforms, were sent on to further torment. Maximilian Kolbe was assigned camp number 16670, thus stripping him of his identity.
In the camp, the Franciscan worked hard physically along with others, among other things hauling gravel and stones or carrying wood. Kapo Heinrich Krott, commander of the Babice work detail, in which Father Kolbe found himself along with other priests from the same transport, proved to be cruel and completely insensitive to the weakness of the imprisoned. He singled out Maximilian for special attention. He ordered him to load more cargo and beat him harder if the friar stopped or his work pace slowed.
All these experiences must have been extremely difficult for Kolbe, who, to make matters worse, suffered from tuberculosis. He, however, paid no attention to his own person but focused on helping others – with a kind word or prayer. The latter he also offered for the dead, whom he carried to the crematorium.
The Franciscan, despite all these difficulties and sufferings of camp life, did not cease performing his ministry as a priest. He was a comfort and guide to his fellow prisoners on the path to God. After the war, prisoners reverently kept mementos of Father Kolbe in reliquaries, remembering how much he had done for them.
August 1941. Consequences of an Escape
One can say that the last weeks of Father Kolbe’s life were pure martyrdom for him. Kapo Krott was increasingly severe toward the friar, the reason being this German’s aversion to intellectuals and especially to priests, whom he hated. He decided to teach Father Maximilian a „lesson” and ordered him severely beaten. One day, he even ordered 50 strong blows to be dealt to him, which ended with the Franciscan losing consciousness.
This, however, was not how Maximilian’s earthly journey was to end. Despite tuberculosis and the harsh conditions prevailing in Auschwitz, this prisoner still lived. When he ended up in the camp „hospital,” he did not cease his ministry. He continued to hear confessions, pray with others, and share his food with the sick.
July 29, 1941, proved to be the day initiating Father Maximilian Kolbe’s Calvary. An escape by Auschwitz prisoner Zygmunt Pilawski was reported at that time. A punitive all-day roll call was held, during which many prisoners fainted and fell lifeless to the ground. Camp director Karl Fritzsch ordered that 10 prisoners be selected to be executed. Among the unfortunates was Franciszek Gajowniczek, camp number 5659, who began to despair that he would leave his wife and children orphaned.
Kolbe was not chosen for this group of ten convicts, however, when he heard Gajowniczek’s cry, he volunteered to exchange – he would go to his death instead of this husband and father. He supposedly said to Fritzsch: „I want to die for him.” The friar, along with 9 other people, was led to block number 11. The prisoners were ordered to undress and were locked up. According to the testimony of one witness to their torment, most of the condemned supposedly cried out against God and cursed, which in this situation could seem a natural reaction to enormous suffering.
Father Maximilian, however, prayed fervently and sang hymns addressed to the Mother of God, which the remaining prisoners picked up. They were heard in confession by the friar and prepared for death. Kolbe was then finished off on August 14 by an injection of phenol. Bruno Borgowiec, who was a witness to this event, recalled that the Franciscan died sitting, with open eyes and his head tilted to the side.
