Maximilian Kolbe is remembered for his heroic actions during one of the cruelest periods of modern history.
Raymond Kolbe was born in Russian-occupied Poland on January 8, 1894 into a Catholic family and remained a devoted follower of Catholicism. In 1907 he joined an order of Friars in Austrian-occupied Poland and adopted the name Maximilian.
Father Kolbe became director of Poland's chief Catholic publishing complex, which published both a monthly magazine with a circulation of about one million and a daily paper with a circulation of about 125,000.
As Kolbe grew older, his health, which had never been strong, deteriorated. He was racked by violent headaches and covered with abscesses; but these were small problems when compared with what was yet to come.
The German Invasion of Poland, 1939
When the Germans invaded Poland in September of 1939, Father Kolbe realized that his monastery would be taken over. He sent most of the friars home, warning them not to join the underground resistance. His monastery was ransacked, and Father Kolbe and about 40 other friars were transported to a holding camp in Germany, and later to one in Poland.
The friars were released and allowed to return to the monastary on December 8, 1939. The monastary became a refugee camp for thousands of Poles and Jews of the Poznan district seeking escape from Nazi persecution. The friars shared everything they had with the refugees and the monastery became a universal shelter of brotherhood. For this reason, Father Kolbe and his friars soon came under suspicion by the Gestapo.
Father Kolbe, as a journalist, publisher and intellectual who had refused German citizenship, was considered a threat to absolute German domination. To incriminate him, the Gestapo permitted one final printing of the "Knight of Mary Immaculate" in December of 1940. It was in this issue that Father Maximilian wrote:
The real conflict is inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the catacombs of concentration camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are victories on the battle-field if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?
On February 17, 1941, Father Maximilian was again arrested, this time on charges of aiding Jews and the Polish underground. Gestapo officers who were shown around the whole monastery were astonished at the small amount of food prepared for the brothers. Father Maximilian was sent to the infamous Pawiak prison in German-occupied Warsaw, and was singled out for special ill treatment.
Father Maximilian and four companions were deported to Auschwitz on May 28th, 1941, which was then both a labor and a death camp. Over the entrance gate of this concentration camp was a sign in German: Arbeit macht frei - "Work makes you free," a mockery of human spirit and human endeavors. Few who passed through that gate left the camp alive. Upon entering Auschwitz, Camp Commandant Karl Fritsch ("Butcher" Fritsch) told prisoners that Jews had the right to live only two weeks, and Roman Catholic priests one month. Cruelly, they were told that the only way out of the camp was through the chimneys of the crematorium.
Father Maximilian received the striped convict garment and was tattooed with the number 16670. He was put to work immediately carrying blocks of stone for the construction of a crematorium wall.
Near the end of July, a prisoner apparently escaped, and men from Kolbe's bunker were paraded in the blazing midday sun, knowing what to expect. One man from each line was selected at random, including a sergeant, Francis Gajowniczek. He cried out in a despairing voice, "My wife, my children, I shall never see them again!" Then a man stepped out from the ranks and offered to take Gajowniczek's place. He was prisoner 16670, Father Maximilian Kolbe. The SS man, "Butcher" Fritsch, did not care who went to the Bunker, so long as there were ten of them, so he nodded. "Who are you?" he asked carelessly. "I am a Catholic priest. I wish to die for that man. I am old; he has a wife and children." Father Kolbe and the nine others were led off to the death chamber of Cell 18.
In 1982, Pope John Paul II made Maximilian Kolbe a Catholic Saint. His feast day is August 14.
Maximilian Kolbe anakumbukwa kwa matendo yake ya ushujaa wakati wa mojawapo ya vipindi vyenye ukatili zaidi katika historia ya kisasa. Raymond Kolbe alizaliwa Poland mnamo Januari 8, 1894 katika familia ya Kikatoliki na aliendelea kuwa mfuasi wa Ukatoliki. Mwaka 1907 alijiunga na kikundi cha watawa wa Kiislamu katika Poland iliyokuwa chini ya utawala wa Austria na akachukua jina Maximilian. Baba Kolbe akawa mkurugenzi wa kampuni kuu ya kuchapisha ya Kikatoliki ya Poland, ambayo ilichapisha gazeti la kila mwezi lenye nakala milioni moja na gazeti la kila siku lenye nakala 125,000. Kolbe alipokuwa akizidi kuzeeka, afya yake, ambayo haikuwa imara kamwe, ilizorota. Alipigwa na maumivu makali ya kichwa na kufunikwa na vidonda; lakini hayo yalikuwa matatizo madogo ikilinganishwa na yale yaliyokuwa bado yanakuja. Wakati wa uvamizi wa Ujerumani wa Poland mnamo Septemba 1939, Baba Kolbe alijua kwamba makao yake ya watawa yangetekwa. Aliwapeleka wengi wa watawa hao nyumbani, akiwaonya wasijiunge na upinzani wa chini ya ardhi. Makao yake ya watawa yalivunjwa, na Baba Kolbe na watawa wengine 40 walipelekwa kwenye kambi ya mateso huko Ujerumani, na baadaye katika moja huko Poland. Waumini hao waliachiliwa na kuruhusiwa kurudi kwenye makao yao Desemba 8, 1939. Makao hayo ya watawa yakawa kambi ya wakimbizi kwa maelfu ya Wapolandi na Wayahudi wa wilaya ya Poznan waliotafuta kukimbia mateso ya Nazi. Watawa hao walishiriki kila kitu walichokuwa nacho na wakimbizi hao na makao hayo ya watawa yakawa makao ya umoja wa ndugu. Kwa sababu hiyo, Pater Kolbe na watawa wake walianza kutiliwa shaka na Gestapo. Baba Kolbe, kama mwandishi wa habari, mchapishaji na msomi ambaye alikuwa amekataa uraia wa Ujerumani, alionwa kuwa tishio kwa utawala kamili wa Ujerumani. "Kwa sababu ya kuathiriwa na Gestapo, gazeti la habari la gazeti la The New York Times lilitoa hati ya mwisho ya ""Knight of Mary Immaculate"" mnamo Desemba 1940."" Ilikuwa katika toleo hili kwamba Baba Maximilian aliandika: Mzozo wa kweli ni mzozo wa ndani. """Zizidi majeshi ya uvamizi na makaburi ya kambi za mateso, kuna maadui wawili wasioweza kupatanishwa ndani ya kila nafsi: wema na uovu, dhambi na upendo." Na ni faida gani ya ushindi katika uwanja wa vita ikiwa sisi wenyewe tumeshindwa ndani ya nafsi zetu za ndani? Mwaka 1941 baba Maximilian alishtakiwa kwa kuwakamata Wayahudi na wapiganaji wa Poland. Maofisa wa Gestapo waliopelekwa kwenye makao yote ya watawa walishangaa kuona kiasi kidogo cha chakula kilichokuwa kimetayarishwa kwa ajili ya ndugu. Baba Maximilian alipelekwa gerezani maarufu la Pawiak huko Warsaw, Ujerumani, na alitozwa adhabu kali. Baba Maximilian na wenzake wanne walihamishwa hadi kambi ya Auschwitz, ambayo wakati huo ilikuwa kambi ya kazi ngumu na kambi ya mauaji. "Kulikuwa na ishara iliyoandikwa kwa Kijerumani juu ya lango la kuingia katika kambi hiyo: ""Kazi inakufanya uwe huru,"" ikidhihaki roho na jitihada za wanadamu." Ni wachache waliopita kupitia lango hilo waliotoka kambini wakiwa hai. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, Kamanda wa kambi ya Auschwitz Karl Fritzsch aliwaambia wafungwa kwamba Wayahudi walikuwa na haki ya kuishi kwa wiki mbili tu, na makasisi wa Katoliki ya Kirumi mwezi mmoja.""" Kwa ukatili, waliambiwa kwamba njia pekee ya kutoka kambini ilikuwa kupitia chemchemi za chumba cha kuuzia maiti. Baba Maximilian alipokea mavazi ya mfungwa na akachorwa namba 16670. Alianza kazi mara moja ya kubeba mawe kwa ajili ya ujenzi wa ukuta wa mahali pa kuchoma maiti. Karibu na mwisho wa Julai, mfungwa mmoja aliondoka, na wanaume kutoka katika gereza la Kolbe waliandamana chini ya jua kali la adhuhuri, wakijua kile walichotarajia. Mwanamume mmoja kutoka kila mstari alichaguliwa kwa nasibu, kutia ndani kamanda, Francis Gajowniczek. "Alipiga kelele kwa sauti ya kukata tamaa, ""Mke wangu, watoto wangu, sitawaona tena kamwe!""" Kisha mwanamume mmoja akatoka katika safu na kujitolea kuchukua mahali pa Gajowniczek. Mfungwa wa 1667: Baba Maximilian Kolbe "Mtu wa SS, ""Mchinjaji"" Fritzsch, hakujali ni nani aliyekwenda kwenye Bunker, mradi tu kulikuwa na kumi kati yao, kwa hiyo akatabasamu." "Wewe ni nani?" aliuliza bila kujali. "Mimi ni kasisi Mkatoliki. Nataka kufa kwa ajili ya mtu huyo. Mimi ni mzee; yeye ana mke na watoto." Baba Kolbe na wengine tisa walipelekwa kwenye chumba cha kifo cha Chumba cha 18. Mwaka 1982 Papa John Paul II alimteua Maximilian Kolbe kuwa mtakatifu wa Kanisa Katoliki. Siku ya sherehe yake ni Agosti 14.