Maximilian Kolbe

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Lore & Background

Raymund Kolbe was born on 8 January 1894 in Zduńska Wola, in the Kingdom of Poland, then a puppet state of the Russian Empire. He was the second son of weaver Julius Kolbe and midwife Maria Dąbrowska. At age nine, Kolbe experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary: 'That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.' In 1907, he and his elder brother Francis joined the Conventual Franciscans. He took the religious name Maximilian in 1910, professed first vows in 1911, and final vows in 1914, adopting the additional name Maria. While studying in Rome, Kolbe witnessed demonstrations by Freemasons against the pope and started the Militia Immaculatae on 16 October 1917, a group of Catholics who prayed for the conversion of sinners and enemies of the Catholic Church, specifically the Freemasons, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. He added a line to the Miraculous Medal prayer: 'O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. And for all those who do not have recourse to thee; especially the Freemasons and all those recommended to thee.' Ordained a priest in 1918, Kolbe returned to Poland in July 1919. In 1922, he founded the monthly periodical Rycerz Niepokalanej (Knight of the Immaculata). In 1927, he founded a new Conventual Franciscan monastery at Niepokalanów near Warsaw, which became a major religious publishing centre. He conducted missionary work in Japan, founding a monastery, Mugenzai no Sono (Garden of the Immaculata), outside Nagasaki in 1931, and a Japanese edition of his periodical. In 1938, he started a radio station at Niepokalanów, Radio Niepokalanów, and held an amateur radio license with the call sign SP3RN. During World War II, after the German invasion of Poland, Kolbe was arrested on 19 September 1939 but released on 8 December 1939. He continued work at his friary, where he and other friars provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland, including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from Nazi persecution. On 17 February 1941, the Gestapo arrested Kolbe and four others; he was incarcerated in Pawiak prison in Warsaw, then transferred to Auschwitz on 28 May 1941 as prisoner 16670. At the end of July 1941, after a prisoner escaped, the deputy camp commander, SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch, ordered guards to pick ten men to be starved to death in an underground bunker. When Franciszek Gajowniczek was selected and cried out, 'My wife! My children!', Kolbe volunteered to take his place. An assistant janitor later testified that Kolbe led the prisoners in prayer from his prison cell. After two weeks, only Kolbe and three others remained alive; the guards gave them lethal injections of carbolic acid. Kolbe died on 14 August 1941. He was cremated on 15 August, the feast day of the Assumption of Mary.

Reader's Guide

Maximilian Kolbe's significance centers on his voluntary sacrifice at Auschwitz, an act that led Pope John Paul II to canonize him on 10 October 1982 and declare him a martyr of charity. John Paul II also declared him 'the patron of our difficult century.' His feast day is 14 August, the day of his martyrdom. Kolbe's devotion to the Immaculate Virgin Mary was central to his life: he founded the Militia Immaculatae in 1917 to pray for the conversion of sinners and enemies of the Catholic Church, especially Freemasons, and he added a specific line to the Miraculous Medal prayer. He promoted consecration and entrustment to Mary, earning him the title 'apostle of consecration to Mary.' His publishing work included founding the monthly periodical Rycerz Niepokalanej in 1922 and the monastery of Niepokalanów in 1927, which became a major religious publishing centre. During World War II, he and other friars hid 2,000 Jews from Nazi persecution at the friary. His amateur radio work (call sign SP3RN) led to his veneration as patron saint of amateur radio operators. The Catholic Church also venerates him as patron saint of drug addicts, political prisoners, families, journalists, and prisoners.

Did You Know?

• Kolbe added a line to the Miraculous Medal prayer specifically for Freemasons and all those recommended to thee.
• He held an amateur radio license with the call sign SP3RN and started Radio Niepokalanów in 1938.
• Kolbe and other friars hid 2,000 Jews from Nazi persecution at the Niepokalanów friary.
• His father, Julius Kolbe, was hanged as a traitor by the Imperial Russian Army in 1915.
• Kolbe was cremated on 15 August 1941, which was the feast day of the Assumption of Mary.