Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Catholic priest and Franciscan Friar who lived during the time of World War II. He is one of the most extraordinary modern saints—a man whose life reflected deep devotion, fearless evangelization, and ultimate self-sacrifice. Living through the turbulence of two world wars and the horrors of Auschwitz, Kolbe's story is a powerful testimony of love that conquers hate. He sacrificed himself for someone he barely knew, volunteering to die in their place, and became a martyr.

Early Life and Calling

Maximilian Kolbe was born as Raymund Kolbe on January 8, 1894, in Zduńska Wola, Poland, to a devout Catholic family. From a young age, Raymund was drawn to prayer and contemplation. He once recounted a childhood vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which she appeared to him holding two crowns—one white, symbolizing purity, and one red, representing martyrdom. When she asked him which one he would choose, he boldly responded, “I choose both.” This moment shaped the course of his entire life, foreshadowing his selfless sacrifice for others.

At the age of 13, he joined the Franciscans and took the religious name Maximilian. He later studied in Rome, earning doctorates in both philosophy and theology. During this time, he grew deeply concerned with the rise of secularism and attacks on the Catholic Church, especially from Freemasonry. In response, he founded the Militia Immaculatae (Army of the Immaculate One) in 1917, a movement dedicated to spiritual warfare through devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Missionary Zeal and Media Ministry

Returning to Poland, Kolbe launched a spiritual and cultural mission through the printed word. In 1927, he founded a friary near Warsaw called Niepokalanów, or “City of the Immaculata.” This was not an ordinary monastery—it became one of the largest in the world, home to nearly 800 friars. The friary published a monthly magazine called Knight of the Immaculata, which reached a circulation of over one million copies.

His missionary zeal didn’t stop in Poland. In 1930, he traveled to Japan, where he established a new monastery in Nagasaki—strategically built on a site that miraculously survived the atomic bomb in 1945. Kolbe’s use of modern media for evangelization was decades ahead of its time. He understood the power of radio, print, and communication, and used them to spread the Gospel with clarity and conviction.

Arrest and Martyrdom in Auschwitz

When Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Kolbe refused to be silent. Despite many fleeing after war broke out, Kolbe stayed in Poland and never left. He used his publications to criticize the Nazis and continued to shelter refugees, including over 2,000 Jews, in his monastery. He would continuously broadcast messages from his radio and publications. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941 and eventually sent to Auschwitz concentration camp.

He would continue to live out his faith, even under severe violence and terrible conditions in the concentration camp.

In July 1941, after a prisoner escaped from Kolbe’s barracks, the Nazis selected ten men to be starved to death as a warning. One of the chosen men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out in despair for his wife and children. In an extraordinary act of sacrificial love, Kolbe volunteered to take his place. He told them to take him instead of the man, since he had a family.

The guards accepted his offer.

Locked in a starvation bunker with the nine others, Kolbe led the condemned in prayers, hymns, and rosaries, turning a place of death into a chapel of hope. After two weeks, he was miraculously the last one alive. The Nazis ended his life with a lethal injection of carbolic acid on August 14, 1941. Witnesses say he lifted his arm willingly and died with peace in his eyes.

Impact on the Church and Canonization

Saint Maximilian Kolbe’s story and death stunned the world. He was beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982 by Pope John Paul II, who himself had lived under Nazi and Communist regimes. In a powerful gesture, Franciszek Gajowniczek, the man Kolbe saved, attended the canonization ceremony in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope John Paul II declared Kolbe a “Martyr of Charity”—a new category of sainthood that recognized his death as an act of supreme love rather than hatred of the faith. He became a patron saint of families, journalists, and prisoners, and is especially revered by those in the pro-life movement. More than anything, Kolbe’s story reminds us that love is stronger than death, and that even in the darkest places, light can shine through.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!