Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe
A prayer card showing St. Kolbe before Mary as the Immaculate Conception, with a prison camp depicted in the background
Martyr
Born	January 7 or January 8, 1894[1], Zduńska Wola, Russian Empire in what is now Poland
Died	August 14, 1941, Auschwitz concentration camp, Poland
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Church
Beatified	17 October 1971, St. Peter Basilica, Rome, Italy[2] by Pope Paul VI
Canonized	10 October 1982, Rome, Italy by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine	Basilica of the Immaculate Mediatrix of Grace, Niepokalanów, Poland
Feast	August 14
Patronage	20th century, Pro-Life Movement, drug addiction, drug addicts, families, amateur radio
Saints Portal

Maximilian Kolbe (January 8, 1894–August 14, 1941), also known as Maksymilian or Massimiliano Maria Kolbe and "Apostle of Consecration to Mary," born as Rajmund Kolbe, was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz in Poland. Image File history File links St_Kolbe_Prayer_Card. ... is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... ZduÅ„ska Wola is a town in central Poland with 45,900 inhabitants (1995). ... The subject of this article was previously also known as Russia. ... is the 226th day of the year (227th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Auschwitz (Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was the largest of the Nazi German concentration camps. ... “Catholic Church” redirects here. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ... Icon of St. ... is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... Coat of Arms of Pope John Paul II. The Letter M is for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he held strong devotion Pope John Paul II (Latin: , Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan PaweÅ‚ II) born   []; 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) reigned as the 264th Pope of... Eastern Orthodox shrine Buddhist shrine just outside Wat Phnom. ... Niepokalanów (City of the Immaculate) is a Catholic religious community near Warsaw, Poland founded in 1927 by Franciscan Friar Maximilian Kolbe. ... The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organising a liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with one or more saints, and referring to the day as that saints day. ... is the 226th day of the year (227th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Saint Quentin is the patron saint of locksmiths and is also invoked against coughs and sneezes. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Amateur radio station with modern solid-state transceiver featuring LCD display and DSP capabilities Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is a hobby that uses various types of radio broadcasting equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training. ... Image File history File links Gloriole. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... is the 226th day of the year (227th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Conventual Franciscans Headline text The Order of Friars founded by St, Francis of Assisi in 1209 The viability of the Franciscan movement after the founders death depended upon a thorough assessment of the Orders role within the social situation. ... A friar is a member of a religious mendicant order of men. ... See also the related List of German concentration camps Concentration camp in Nazi Germany. ... Auschwitz (Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was the largest of the Nazi German concentration camps. ...

He was canonized by the Catholic Church as Saint Maximilian Kolbe on October 10, 1982 by Pope John Paul II, and declared a martyr of charity. He is the patron saint of drug addicts,^[3] political prisoners,^[3] families,^[3] journalists,^[3] prisoners,^[3] and the pro-life movement.^[3] Pope John Paul II declared him the "The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century".^[4] “Catholic Church” redirects here. ... is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Coat of Arms of Pope John Paul II. The Letter M is for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he held strong devotion Pope John Paul II (Latin: , Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan PaweÅ‚ II) born   []; 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) reigned as the 264th Pope of... For other uses, see Martyr (disambiguation). ... Allegorical personification of Charity as a mother with three infants by Anthony van Dyck // The word charity entered the English language through the O.Fr word charite which was derived from the Latin caritas.[1] In Christian theology charity, or love (agapÄ“), is the greatest of the three theological virtues... Saint Quentin is the patron saint of locksmiths and is also invoked against coughs and sneezes. ... Drug addiction, or dependency is the compulsive use of drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use. ... A political prisoner is anyone held in prison or otherwise detained, perhaps under house arrest, because their ideas or image either challenge or pose a real or potential threat to the state. ... ... For other uses, see Journalist (disambiguation). ... Pro-life demonstrators at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 22, 2002. ...

Biography

Kolbe - his father was an ethnic German, his mother of Polish origin - was born in 1894 in Zduńska Wola, at that time part of Russian Empire, as the second son of Juliusz Kolbe and Marianna Kolbe (née Dąbrowska). His parents moved to Pabianice, where they worked first as weavers, then ran a bookstore. Later, in 1914, his father joined Józef Piłsudski's Polish Legions and was captured by the Russians for fighting for the independence of a partitioned Poland. 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... ZduÅ„ska Wola is a town in central Poland with 45,900 inhabitants (1995). ... The subject of this article was previously also known as Russia. ... Pabianice is a town in central Poland, with 71,313 inhabitants (2004). ... Genera Many:see text The Weavers are small passerine birds related to the finches. ... A bookstore. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Office Chief of State, Marshal of Poland Term of office from November 14, 1918 until December 9, 1922 Profession Statesman Political party none (see Sanacja for details), formerly PPS Spouse Maria PiÅ‚sudska Aleksandra PiÅ‚sudska Date of birth December 5, 1867 Place of birth Zułów, in todays... Polish Legions (Polish Legiony Polskie) was the name of Polish armed forces created in August of 1914 in Galicia. ... The Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polish: Rozbiór Polski or Rozbiory Polski; Lithuanian: Lietuvos-Lenkijos padalijimai, Belarusian: Падзелы Рэчы Паспалітай) took place in the 18th century and ended the existence of the sovereign Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ...

In 1907, Kolbe and his elder brother Franciszek decided to join the Conventual Franciscan Order. They illegally crossed the border between Russia and Austria-Hungary and joined the Conventual Franciscan junior seminary in Lwów. In 1910, Kolbe was allowed to enter the novitiate. He professed his first vows in 1911, adopting the name Maximilian, and the final vows in 1914, in Rome, adopting the names Maximilian Maria, to show his veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Conventual Franciscans Headline text The Order of Friars founded by St, Francis of Assisi in 1209 The viability of the Franciscan movement after the founders death depended upon a thorough assessment of the Orders role within the social situation. ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... A seminary is a specialized university-like institution for the purpose of instructing students in religion, often in order to prepare them to become members of the clergy. ... “Lvov” redirects here. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A novitiate (also called a novice) is a member of a religious order who has not yet taken his/her vows. ... Monastic vows are the public vows of poverty, chastity and obedience professed by the monks in the Catholic and Orthodox tradition. ... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Monastic vows are the public vows of poverty, chastity and obedience professed by the monks in the Catholic and Orthodox tradition. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... “Our Lady” redirects here. ...

In 1912, he was sent to Kraków, and, in the same year, to Rome, where he studied philosophy, theology, mathematics, and physics. He took a great interest in astrophysics and the prospect of space flight. While in Rome he designed^{[citation needed]} an airplane-like spacecraft, similar in concept to the eventual space shuttle, and attempted to patent it. He earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1915 at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and the doctorate in theology in 1919 at the Pontifical University of St. Bonaventure. During his time as a student, he witnessed vehement demonstrations against Popes St. Pius X and Benedict XV by the Freemasons in Rome and was inspired to organize the Militia Immaculata, or Army of Mary, to work for conversion of sinners and the enemies of the Catholic Church through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. In 1918, he was ordained a priest. In the conservative publications of the Militia Immaculatae, he particularly condemned Freemasonry, Communism, Zionism, Capitalism and Imperialism. 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Krakow (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... NASAs Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States governments current manned launch vehicle. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Pontifical Gregorian University (Italian: Pontificia Università Gregoriana) is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (Italian: San Bonaventura) (1221 – 15 July 1274), born John of Fidanza (Italian: Giovanni di Fidanza), was the eighth Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, commonly called the Franciscans. ... Pope St. ... Pope Benedict XV Benedict XV, né Giacomo della Chiesa (November 21, 1854-January 22, 1922), was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1914 to 1922; he succeeded Pope Saint Pius X. He was born in Genoa, Italy, of a noble family. ... American Square & Compasses Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization. ... The Militia Immaculata, or Army of the Immaculate, is a worldwide Catholic evangelization movement founded by St. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Catholic deacon... This article is about religious workers. ... “Freemasons” redirects here. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... This article is about Zionism as a movement, not the History of Israel. ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... Cecil Rhodes: Cape-Cairo railway project. ...

In 1919, he returned to the newly independent Poland, where he was very active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, a seminary, a radio station, and several other organizations and publications. Between 1930 and 1936, he took a series of missions to Japan, where he founded a monastery at the outskirts of Nagasaki, a Japanese paper, and a seminary. The monastery he founded remains prominent in the Roman Catholic Church in Japan. Kolbe decided to build the monastery on a mountain side that, according to Shinto beliefs, was not the side best suited to be in tune with nature. When the atomic bomb struck Nagasaki, Kolbe's monastery was saved because the blast of the bomb hit the side of the mountain that the monastery was not located on, the said side took the main blow of the blast. Had Kolbe built the monastery on the side of mountain he was advised to choose, his work and all of his fellow monks would have been destroyed. Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Anthem: Mazurek DÄ…browskiego Capital Warsaw Language(s) Polish Government Republic President List Prime minister List Legislature Sejm Historical era Interwar period  - World War I November 11, 1918  - Invasion November 2, 1939 Area  - 1939 388,600 km2 150,039 sq mi Population  - 1939 est. ... Mary, mother of Jesus as the Immaculate Conception. ... “Our Lady” redirects here. ... Niepokalanów (City of the Immaculate) is a Catholic religious community near Warsaw, Poland founded in 1927 by Franciscan Friar Maximilian Kolbe. ... For other uses, see Warsaw (disambiguation) and Warszawa (disambiguation). ... A radio station is an audio (sound) broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Nagasaki ) ( ) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ...

Auschwitz

During the Second World War, in the friary, Kolbe provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland, including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from Nazi persecution in his friary in Niepokalanów. He was also active as a radio amateur, with Polish call letters SP3RN, vilifying Nazi activities through his reports. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Voivodship wielkopolskie since 1999 Coat of Arms for voivodship wielkopolskie Greater Poland (also Great Poland; Polish: , German: Großpolen, Latin: Polonia Maior) is a historical region of west-central Poland. ... Niepokalanów (City of the Immaculate) is a Catholic religious community near Warsaw, Poland founded in 1927 by Franciscan Friar Maximilian Kolbe. ... Amateur radio station with modern solid-state transceiver featuring LCD display and DSP capabilities Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is a hobby that uses various types of radio broadcasting equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training. ... National Socialism redirects here. ...

On February 17, 1941, he was arrested by the German Gestapo and imprisoned in the Pawiak prison, and, on May 25, was transferred to Auschwitz I as prisoner #16670. is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei: “secret state police”) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... Pawiak Pawiak was a famous prison in Warsaw built by the tsarist authorities between 1829 and 1835. ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ...

In July 1941, a man from Kolbe's barracks had vanished, prompting SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch, the Lagerführer (i.e., the camp commander), to pick 10 men from the same barracks to be starved to death in Block 11 (notorious for torture), in order to deter further escape attempts. (The man who had disappeared was later found drowned in the camp latrine.) One of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, lamenting his family, and Kolbe volunteered to take his place. “SS” redirects here. ... Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. ... SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer Karl Fritzsch (born 1903 died 1945), was a Nazi officer. ... Torture, according to international law, is any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has... Franciszek Gajowniczek (1901 – March 13, 1995[1]) was a Polish army sergeant whose life was spared by the Nazis when Saint Maximilian Kolbe sacrificed his life for Gajowniczeks. ...

During the time in the cell, he led the men in songs and prayer. After three weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe and three others were still alive. Finally, he was executed with an injection of carbolic acid. Phenol, also known under an older name of carbolic acid, is a colourless crystalline solid with a typical sweet tarry odor. ...

Kolbe is one of ten 20th-century martyrs from across the world who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey, London. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 10 October 1982, in the presence of Gajowniczek. The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often mistaken for one), in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Coat of Arms of Pope John Paul II. The Letter M is for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he held strong devotion Pope John Paul II (Latin: , Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan PaweÅ‚ II) born   []; 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) reigned as the 264th Pope of... is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...

Kolbe Statue (left) - Westminster Abbey

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2560 × 1920 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2560 × 1920 pixel, file size: 1. ...

See also

• Holocaust theology
• Amateur radio history

Holocaust theology refers to a body of theological and philosophical debate, soul-searching, and analysis, with the subsequent related literature, that attempts to come to grips with various conflicting views about the role of God in this human world and the dark events of the European Holocaust that occurred during... Throughout its history, amateur radio enthusiasts have made significant contributions to science, engineering, industry, and social services. ...

Notes

1. ^ Different sources provide different date of birth for St Maximilian Kolbe: reports January 8 while reports January 7.
2. ^ Consecration.com:Biographical Data Summary at the Militia of Immaculata website; Retrieved on November 19, 2006.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} [ http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm01.htm Catholic Forum.com]
4. ^ St. Maximilian Kolbe Martyr of Love.

References

• Maximilian Kolbe at Patron Saint Index
• Kolbe, Mt Maria College
• Rees, Laurence. Auschwitz: A New History, Public Affairs, 2005. ISBN 1-58648-357-9