Editing Maximilian Kolbe

{{Short description|Polish Franciscan friar, martyr, and saint (1894–1941)}}
{{Expand language|topic=|langcode=pl|otherarticle=Maksymilian Maria Kolbe|date=April 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix    = [[Saint]]
| name                = Maximilian Kolbe
| honorific_suffix    = [[Order of Friars Minor Conventual|OFMConv]]
| image               = Fr.Maximilian Kolbe in 1936.jpg 
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Kolbe in 1936
| titles              = [[Martyr]]
| birth_name          = Raymund Kolbe
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1894|1|8|df=y}} 
| birth_place         = [[Zduńska Wola]], [[Congress Poland]], [[Russian Empire]]
| home_town           = 
| residence           = 
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1941|8|14|1894|1|8|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Auschwitz-Birkenau]], [[Nazi Germany]]
| venerated_in        = {{ublist|[[Catholic Church]]|[[Palmarian Church]]|[[Anglican Communion]]|[[Lutheran Church]]}}
| beatified_date      = 17 October 1971
| beatified_place     = [[Vatican City]]
| beatified_by        = [[Pope Paul VI]]
| canonized_date      = 10 October 1982
| canonized_place     = Vatican City
| canonized_by        = [[Pope John Paul II]]
| major_shrine        = [[Basilica of the Omni-mediatress of All Glories]]
| feast_day           = 14 August 
| attributes          = {{hlist | [[Religious habit|Franciscan habit]] | the ''[[Rycerz Niepokalanej]]'' | Nazi concentration prison uniform | [[Nazi concentration camp badge]] | [[crucifix]] | [[rosary]]}}
| patronage           = prisoners, drug addicts, families, journalists, [[amateur radio]] operators, [[pro-life movement]], people with eating disorders<ref>{{Cite web |title='I would like to take his place' – DW – 08/14/2016 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/remembering-kolbe-who-stood-up-to-nazis-at-auschwitz/a-19474219 |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en}}</ref><!-- WARNING: patronages MUST CORRESPOND to a reliable secondary source, per WP:RS -->
| issues              = 
| suppressed_date     = 
| suppressed_by       = 
| influences          = 
| influenced          = 
| tradition           = 
| major_works         = 
}}
{{Modern persecutions of the Catholic Church}}

'''Maximilian Maria Kolbe''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Order of Friars Minor Conventual|OFMConv]]}} (born '''Raymund Kolbe'''; {{langx|pl| Maksymilian Maria Kolbe}};{{efn|Pronounced {{IPA|pl|maksɨˌmʲilʲan ˌmarʲja ˈkɔlbɛ|}}.}} 8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941) was a Polish [[Roman Catholic]] priest, [[Conventual Franciscans|Conventual Franciscan]] [[friar]], missionary, [[saint]], [[martyr]], and a [[Nazi concentration camp]] victim, who volunteered to die in place of a man named [[Franciszek Gajowniczek]] in the German [[Extermination camp|death camp]] of [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]], located in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German-occupied Poland]] during [[World War II]]. He had been active in promoting the veneration of the [[Immaculate Conception|Immaculate]] [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]], founding and supervising the monastery of [[Niepokalanów]] near [[Warsaw]], operating an [[amateur radio|amateur-radio]] station (SP3RN), and founding or running several other organizations and publications.
 
On 10 October 1982, [[Pope John Paul II]] [[canonization|canonized]] Kolbe and declared him a [[martyr of charity]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kijas|first=Zdzisław Józef|date=2020|title=THE PROCESS OF BEATIFICATION AND CANONIZATION OF MAXIMILIAN MARIA KOLBE|url=http://studiaelblaskie.pl/assets/Numery/SE-tom212020.pdf#page=199|journal=Studia Elbląskie|volume=XXI|pages=199–213}}</ref> The [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]] venerates him as the [[patron saint]] of amateur radio operators, drug addicts, [[political prisoner]]s, families, journalists, and prisoners.<ref>{{Cite web |title='I would like to take his place' – DW – 08/14/2016 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/remembering-kolbe-who-stood-up-to-nazis-at-auschwitz/a-19474219 |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en}}</ref> John Paul II declared him "the patron of our difficult century".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Biniaz |first=Benjamin |title=Religious Resistance in Auschwitz: The Sacrifice of Saint Kolbe |url=https://sfi.usc.edu/news/2016/08/12019-religious-resistance-auschwitz-sacrifice-saint-kolbe |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[USC Shoah Foundation]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Holy Mass at the Brzezinka Concentration Camp"/> His feast day is 14 August, the day of his [[martyrdom]].

Due to Kolbe's efforts to promote [[consecration and entrustment to Mary]], he is known as an "apostle of consecration to Mary".<ref name="ArmstrongPeterson2010-51"/>

==Early life==
Raymund Kolbe was born on 8 January 1894 in [[Zduńska Wola]], in the [[Congress Poland|Kingdom of Poland]], which was then part of the [[Russian Empire]]. He was the second son of [[Weaver (occupation)|weaver]] Julius Kolbe and [[Midwifery|midwife]] Maria Dąbrowska.<ref name="psb296"/> His father was an [[ethnic German]],<ref name="Strzelecka1984"/> and his mother was [[Polish people|Polish]]. He had four brothers, two of whom died of tuberculosis. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to [[Pabianice]].<ref name="psb296"/>

Kolbe's life was strongly influenced in 1903, when he was 9, by a vision of the [[Virgin Mary]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dewar |first=Diana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39hsAAAAIAAJ |title=Saint of Auschwitz: The Story of Maximilian Kolbe |date=1982 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-061901-5 |pages=115 |language=en}}</ref> He later described this incident:

<blockquote>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.<ref name="ArmstrongPeterson2010-50"/></blockquote>

==Franciscan friar==
In 1907, Kolbe and his elder brother Francis joined the [[Conventual Franciscans]].<ref name=catholic-pages/> They enrolled at the Conventual Franciscan minor seminary in [[Lviv|Lwów]] later that year. In 1910, Kolbe was allowed to enter the [[novitiate]], where he chose a religious name Maximilian. He professed his [[first vows]] in 1911, and [[final vows]] in 1914,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dewar |first=Diana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39hsAAAAIAAJ |title=Saint of Auschwitz: The Story of Maximilian Kolbe |date=1982 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-061901-5 |pages=36 |language=en}}</ref> adopting the additional name of Maria (Mary).<ref name="psb296"/>

===World War I===
Kolbe was sent to [[Rome]] in 1912, where he attended the [[Pontifical Gregorian University]]. He earned a [[doctor of philosophy|doctorate in philosophy]] in 1915 there. From 1915 he continued his studies at the [[Pontifical University of St. Bonaventure]], where he earned a [[doctor of theology|doctorate in theology]] in 1919<ref name="psb296"/> or 1922<ref name="Patron"/> (sources vary). He was active in the [[consecration and entrustment to Mary]].

In the midst of these studies, [[World War I]] broke out. Maximilian's father, Julius Kolbe, joined [[Józef Piłsudski]]'s [[Polish Legions in World War I|Polish Legions]] fighting against the Russians for an independent Poland, still subjugated and still [[Partitions of Poland|divided among Prussia, Russia, and Austria]]. Julius Kolbe was caught and hanged as a traitor by the Russians at the age of 43, a traumatic event for young Maximilian.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/f0814s/ |title=St Maximilian M Kolbe | access-date=18 January 2021}}</ref>

During his time as a student, he witnessed vehement demonstrations against Popes [[Pope Pius X|Pius X]] and [[Benedict XV]] in Rome during an anniversary celebration by the [[Freemasons]]. According to Kolbe:

<blockquote>They placed the black standard of the "[[Giordano Bruno|Giordano Brunisti]]" under the windows of the [[Vatican City|Vatican]]. On this standard the archangel, [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]], was depicted lying under the feet of the triumphant Lucifer. At the same time, countless pamphlets were distributed to the people in which the Holy Father (i.e., the Pope) was attacked shamefully.<ref name="biosummary"/><ref name="anniversary"/></blockquote>

Soon afterward, on 16 October 1917, Kolbe organized the [[Militia Immaculatae]] (Army of the Immaculate One), to work for conversion of sinners and enemies of the Catholic Church, specifically the [[Freemason]]s, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary.<ref>''Mention Your Request Here: The Church's Most Powerful Novenas'' by Michael Dubruiel 2000 {{ISBN|0-87973-341-1}} page 63</ref><ref name="Patron"/> So serious was Kolbe about this goal that he added to the [[Miraculous Medal]] prayer:

<blockquote>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''.<ref name="Daily Prayers"/></blockquote>

Kolbe wanted the entire [[Franciscan Order]] consecrated to the Immaculate by an additional vow. The idea was well received, but faced the hurdles of approval by the hierarchy of the order and the lawyers, so it was never formally adopted during his life and was no longer pursued after his death.<ref>''Forget not love: the passion of Maximilian Kolbe'' by André Frossard 1991 {{ISBN|0-89870-275-5}} page 127</ref>

==Priesthood==
In 1918, Kolbe was [[Holy Orders|ordained]] a priest.<ref name=ewtn/> In July 1919, he returned to [[Second Polish Republic|Poland, which was newly independent]]. He was active in promoting the veneration of the [[Immaculate Conception|Immaculate]] [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]]. He was strongly opposed to [[leftist]] – in particular, [[communist]] – movements.<ref name="psb296"/>

From 1919 to 1922, he taught at the Kraków Seminary.<ref name="Patron"/><ref name="psb296"/> Around that time, as well as earlier in Rome, he suffered from [[tuberculosis]], which forced him to take a lengthy leave of absence from his teaching duties. Before antibiotics, tuberculosis was often fatal, with rest and good nutrition the only treatment.<ref name="Patron"/><ref name=ewtn/>

In January 1922, Kolbe founded the monthly periodical ''[[Rycerz Niepokalanej]]'' (''Knight of the Immaculata''), a devotional publication based on the French ''Le Messager du Coeur de Jesus'' (''Messenger of the Heart of Jesus''). From 1922 to 1926, he operated a religious publishing press in [[Grodno]].<ref name="psb296"/> As his activities grew in scope, in 1927 he founded a new Conventual Franciscan monastery at [[Niepokalanów]] near Warsaw. It became a major religious publishing centre.<ref name="Patron"/><ref name="psb296"/><ref name=ewtn/> A junior seminary was opened there two years later.<ref name="Patron"/>

===Missionary work in Asia===
Between 1930 and 1936, Kolbe undertook a series of [[mission (Christian)|missions]] to [[East Asia]]. He arrived first in [[Shanghai]], China, but failed to gather a following there.<ref name="psb296"/> Next he moved to [[Japan]], where by 1931 he had founded a [[Order of Friars Minor Conventual|Franciscan monastery]], ''Mugenzai no Sono'' ({{lang|ja|無原罪の園}}, {{translation|Garden of the Immaculata}}),{{efn|After the friars learned that {{Transliteration|ja|mugenzai}} was a [[homonym]] for "endless sin," the monastery's name was later changed to {{lang|ja|Seibo no Kishi}} ({{translation|Knights of the Blessed Mother}}).<ref name=Doak />}} on the outskirts of [[Nagasaki]].<ref name=Doak>{{cite web | last=Doak | first=Kevin | title=St. Maximilian Kolbe in Japan | website=Benedict XVI Institute | date=31 July 2021 | url=https://benedictinstitute.org/2021/07/st-maximilian-kolbe-in-japan/ | access-date=3 April 2025}}</ref> Because of its location within the hills outlying the city, the monastery was spared from destruction during the United States' [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|atomic bombing of Nagasaki]].<ref name="guardian"/><ref name=Doak />

Kolbe was persuaded to work in Japan by a group of Japanese students he encountered in Europe, who lamented the need for missionaries in their home country. After arriving in Japan, Kolbe acquired some facility in the local language, including basic literacy;<ref name=Doak /> the monastery soon began publishing a Japanese edition of the ''Knight of the Immaculata''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dewar |first=Diana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39hsAAAAIAAJ |title=Saint of Auschwitz: The Story of Maximilian Kolbe |date=1982 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-061901-5 |pages=70 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="psb296"/><ref name=ewtn/>

In mid-1932, Kolbe left Japan for [[Malabar region|Malabar]], India, where he founded another monastery, which has since closed.<ref name="Patron"/>{{self-published source|date=October 2022}}

===Return to Poland===
Meanwhile, in his absence the monastery at Niepokalanów began to publish a daily newspaper ''Mały Dziennik'' (''the Small Diary''), in alliance with the political group [[National Radical Camp (1934)|National Radical Camp]] (''Obóz Narodowo Radykalny'').<ref name="Patron"/><ref name="psb296"/> This publication reached a circulation of 137,000, and nearly double that, 225,000, on weekends.<ref name="Media katolickie w III Rzeczypospolitej (1989–2009)"/> Kolbe returned to Poland in 1933 for a general chapter of the order in [[Kraków]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Elaine Murray Stone|title=Maximilian Kolbe|url=https://archive.org/details/maximiliankolbes00elai|url-access=registration|quote=city mary india kolbe.|publisher=Paulist Press|place=Nueva York|year=1997|page=[https://archive.org/details/maximiliankolbes00elai/page/53 53]|isbn=0-8091-6637-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Francis Mary Kalvelage|title=Kolbe: Saint of the Immaculata|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbruAQAAQBAJ&q=Mugenzai+no+Sono+1931&pg=PA62|pages=62–63|year=2001|publisher=Academy of the Immaculate |isbn=9780898708851}}</ref> Kolbe returned to Japan and remained there until called back to attend the Provincial Chapter in Poland in 1936. There he was appointed guardian of Niepokalanów, thus precluding his return to Japan.<!-- <ref name=|author=Claude R. Foster|title= Mary's Knight>--> Two years later, in 1938, he started a radio station at Niepokalanów, ''Radio Niepokalanów''.<ref name="Patron"/>{{self-published source|date=October 2022}}<ref name="Historia"/> He held an [[amateur radio]] licence, with the call sign SP3RN.<ref name="qrz"/>

==World War II==
After the outbreak of [[World War II]], Kolbe was one of the few friars who remained in the monastery, where he organized a temporary hospital.<ref name="psb296"/> After the town was captured by the Germans, they arrested him on 19 September 1939; he was later released on 8 December.<ref name="Patron"/><ref name="psb296"/> He refused to sign the [[Deutsche Volksliste]], which would have given him rights similar to those of German citizens in exchange for recognizing his ethnic German ancestry.<ref name="psb297"/> Upon his release 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 in the Niepokalanów friary.<ref name="Patron"/>{{self-published source|date=October 2022}}<ref name=ewtn/><ref name=guardian/><ref name="psb297"/><ref name="Kolbe, Saint of Auschwitz"/> Kolbe received permission to continue publishing religious works, though significantly reduced in scope.<ref name="psb297"/> The monastery continued to act as a publishing house, issuing a number of publications considered anti-Nazi.<ref name="Patron"/>{{self-published source|date=October 2022}}<ref name=ewtn/>

==Arrest and imprisonment==
[[File:Todeszelle Pater Maximilian Kolbes, KZ Auschwitz I, Block 11.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Maximilian Kolbe's prison cell in [[Block 11]], Auschwitz concentration camp]]
On 17 February 1941, the monastery was shut down by the German authorities. That day Kolbe and four others were arrested by the [[Gestapo]] and imprisoned in the [[Pawiak]] prison.<ref name="Patron"/> On 28 May, he was transferred to [[Auschwitz]] as prisoner 16670.<ref name="Sixty-ninth Anniversary of the Death of St. Maximilian Kolbe"/>
[[File:DBP 1973 771 Maximilian Kolbe.jpg|thumb|right|Kolbe, on a West German postage stamp, marked [[Auschwitz]]]]<!--why is his death date given as the 15th?-->
Continuing to act as a priest, Kolbe was subjected to violent harassment, including beatings and lashings. Once, he was smuggled to a prison hospital by friendly inmates.<ref name="Patron"/><ref name="psb297"/>

== Martyrdom at Auschwitz==
At the end of July 1941, a prisoner escaped from the camp, prompting the deputy camp commander, ''[[Schutzstaffel|SS]]-[[Hauptsturmführer]]'' [[Karl Fritzsch]], to pick ten men to be starved to death in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men, [[Franciszek Gajowniczek]] (also a Polish Catholic), cried out, "My wife! My children!" Kolbe volunteered to take his place.<ref name="catholic-pages"/>

According to an eyewitness, who was an assistant janitor at that time, in his prison cell Kolbe led the prisoners in prayer. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. After they had been starved and deprived of water for two weeks, only Kolbe and three others remained alive.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zdzisław |first=Kijas |date=2020 |title=The Process of Beatification and Canonization of Maximilian Maria Kolbe |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1077602 |journal=Studia Elbląskie |language=English |issue=21 |pages=199–214 |issn=1507-9058}}</ref>

The guards wanted the bunker emptied, so they gave the four remaining prisoners lethal injections of [[phenol|carbolic acid]]. Kolbe is said to have raised his left arm and calmly waited for the deadly injection.<ref name="ewtn"/> He died on 14 August 1941. He was cremated on 15 August, the [[calendar of saints|feast day]] of the [[Assumption of Mary]].<ref name="psb297"/>

==Canonization==
The cause for Kolbe's beatification was opened at a local level on 3 June 1952.<ref name="index">{{cite book |title=Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum |date=January 1953 |publisher=Typis polyglottis vaticanis |page=173 |language=Latin}}</ref> On 12 May 1955 Kolbe was recognized by the [[Holy See]] as a [[Servant of God]].<ref name="psb297"/> Kolbe was declared [[venerable]] by [[Pope Paul VI]] on 30 January 1969, [[beatification|beatified]] as a [[Confessor of the Faith]] by the same Pope in 1971, and [[canonized]] as a [[saint]] by [[Pope John Paul II]] on 10 October 1982.<ref name="Patron"/><ref name="Plunka2012"/> Upon canonization, the Pope declared Maximilian Kolbe as a confessor and a [[martyr]] of charity. The miracles that were used to confirm his beatification were the July 1948 cure of intestinal tuberculosis in Angela Testoni and in August 1950, the cure of calcification of the arteries/sclerosis of Francis Ranier; both attributed to Kolbe's intercession by their prayers to him.<ref name="Patron"/>{{self-published source|date=December 2022}}

[[Franciszek Gajowniczek]], the man Kolbe saved at Auschwitz, survived the [[Holocaust]] and was present as a guest at both the beatification and the canonization ceremonies.<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Binder |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1995/03/15/923895.html?pageNumber=39 |title=Franciszek Gajowniczek Dead; Priest Died for Him at Auschwitz |newspaper=The New York Times |page=39 |date=15 March 1995 |accessdate=2 July 2013}}</ref>

[[File:WestminsterAbbey-Martyrs.jpg|thumb|right|The statue of Kolbe (left) above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey]]
After his canonisation, a feast day for Maximilian Kolbe was added to the [[General Roman Calendar]]. He is one of ten 20th-century martyrs who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of [[Anglican]] [[Westminster Abbey]], London.<ref name="westminster"/>

Maximilian Kolbe is [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] in the [[Church of England]] with a [[Commemoration (observance)|commemoration]] on 14 August.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=2021-04-08|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref>

===Controversies===
Kolbe's recognition as a [[Christian martyrs|Christian martyr]] generated some controversy within the Catholic Church.<ref name="peterson"/> While his self-sacrifice at Auschwitz was considered saintly and heroic, he was not killed out of ''odium fidei'' (hatred of the faith), but as the result of his act of [[Charity (virtue)|Christian charity]] toward another man. [[Pope Paul VI]] recognized this distinction at Kolbe's beatification, naming him a Confessor and giving him the unofficial title "martyr of charity". Pope John Paul II, however, overruled the commission he had established (which agreed with the earlier assessment of heroic charity). John Paul II wanted to make the point that the Nazis' systematic hatred of whole categories of humanity was inherently also a hatred of religious (Christian) faith; he said that Kolbe's death equated to earlier examples of religious martyrdom.<ref name=peterson/>

====Accusations of antisemitism====
Kolbe's alleged antisemitism was a source of controversy in the 1980s in the aftermath of his [[canonization]].<ref name="Yallop2012"/> In 1926, in the first issue of the monthly ''Knight of the Immaculate'', Kolbe said he considered Freemasons "as an organized clique of fanatical Jews, who want to destroy the church."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/12/05/mass-is-set-for-the-saint-of-auschwitz/18a930db-756e-4f7c-a484-399305713a29/ |title=Mass Is Set For the Saint of Auschwitz |author=Joyce Wadler |date=5 December 1982 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> In a 1924 column, he cited the ''[[Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'' as an "important proof" that "the founders of Zionism intended, in fact, the subjugation of the entire world", but that "not even all Jews know this".<ref>{{cite web |title=Czy prawda się zmienia? |url=https://pisma.niepokalanow.pl/967-czy-prawda-sie-zmienia}}</ref> In a calendar that the publishing house of his organization, the Militia of the Immaculate, published in an edition of a million in 1939, Kolbe wrote, "Atheistic Communism seems to rage ever more wildly. Its origin can easily be located in that criminal mafia that calls itself Freemasonry, and the hand that is guiding all that toward a clear goal is international Zionism. Which should not be taken to mean that even among Jews one cannot find good people."<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Henry Kamm |date=19 November 1982 |title=Saint Charged with Bigotry; Clerics Say No |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/19/world/saint-charged-with-bigotry-clerics-say-no.html}}</ref> In his periodicals he had published articles about topics such as a [[Zionism|Zionist]] plot for world domination.<ref name="Dershowitz1992"/><ref name="jta"/><ref name="Michael2008"/> Slovenian philosopher [[Slavoj Žižek]] criticized Kolbe's activities as "writing and organizing mass propaganda for the Catholic Church, with a clear anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic edge."<ref name=jta/><ref name="Zizek2012"/> In contrast, a writer for online [[EWTN]] claimed that the "Jewish question played a very minor role in Kolbe's thought and work" and that "only thirty-one out of over 14,000 of his letters reference the Jewish people or Judaism, and most express a missionary zeal and concern for their spiritual welfare".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/was-st-maximilian-kolbe-an-antisemite-1068 |title=Was St. Maximilian Kolbe an Anti-Semite? |author=Becky Ready |newspaper=[[EWTN]]}}</ref>

During World War II, Kolbe's monastery at Niepokalanów [[Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust|sheltered Jewish refugees]].<ref name=jta/> According to the testimony of a local, "When Jews came to me asking for a piece of bread, I asked Father Maximilian if I could give it to them in good conscience, and he answered me, 'Yes, it is necessary to do this because all men are our brothers.{{'"}}<ref name="BeckyReady"/>

=== Relics===
[[Relic#Classifications and prohibitions in the Catholic Church|First-class relics]] of Kolbe exist, in the form of hairs from his head and beard, preserved without his knowledge by two friars at Niepokalanów who served as barbers in his friary between 1930 and 1941. Since his [[beatification]] in 1971, more than 1,000 such relics have been distributed around the world for public veneration. Second-class relics, such as his personal effects, clothing and liturgical [[vestment]]s, are preserved in his monastery cell and in a chapel at Niepokalanów, where they may be venerated by visitors.<ref name=relics/>

==Influence==
[[File:Kościół MB Ostrobramskiej w Chrzanowie 13 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|right|The first monument to Maximilian Kolbe in Poland in [[Chrzanów]]]]
Kolbe influenced his own Order of Conventual Franciscan friars, as the [[Militia Immaculatae]] movement had continued.<ref name="Publishing2013"/> In recent years new religious and [[secular institute]]s have been founded, inspired from this spiritual way. Among these are the Missionaries of the Immaculate Mary – Fr. Kolbe, the Franciscan Friars of Mary Immaculate, and a parallel congregation of [[Religious Sister|religious sister]]s and others. The Franciscan Friars of Mary Immaculate are taught basic Polish so they can sing the traditional hymns sung by Kolbe, in his native tongue.<ref name="OFMI"/>

According to the friars:
<blockquote>Our patron, St. Maximilian Kolbe, inspires us with his unique [[Mariology]] and apostolic mission, which is to bring all souls to the Sacred Heart of Christ through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Christ's most pure, efficient, and holy instrument of evangelization – especially those most estranged from the Church.<ref name=OFMI/></blockquote>

[[File:Plum Edith Stein und Maximilian Kolbe.JPG|thumb|left|Stained-glass window by [[Alois Plum]] depicting [[Edith Stein]] and Maximilian Kolbe]]
Kolbe's views into [[Roman Catholic Mariology|Marian theology]] echo today through their influence on [[Vatican II]].<ref name="Patron"/> His image may be found in churches across Europe<ref name=westminster/> and throughout the world. Several churches in Poland are under his patronage, such as the Sanctuary of Saint Maxymilian in [[Zduńska Wola]] and the Church of Saint Maxymilian Kolbe in [[Szczecin]].<ref name="Sanktuarium Św. Maksymiliana – Zduńska Wola – DIECEZJA WŁOCŁAWSKA -KURIA DIECEZJALNA WŁOCŁAWSKA"/><ref name="smmkolbeci"/> A museum, [[Museum of St. Maximilian Kolbe "There was a Man"]], was opened in Niepokalanów in 1998.<ref name="Niepokalanów"/>

In 1963, [[Rolf Hochhuth]] published ''[[The Deputy]]'', a play influenced by Kolbe's life, and dedicated to him.<ref name="psb297"/> In 2000, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (US) designated Marytown in [[Libertyville, Illinois]] home to a community of Conventual Franciscan friars, as the [[National Shrine]] of St. Maximilian Kolbe.<ref name="National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe"/>

In 1991, [[Krzysztof Zanussi]] released a Polish film about the life of Kolbe, ''{{ill|Life for Life: Maximilian Kolbe|pl|3=Życie za życie. Maksymilian Kolbe|lt=Life for Life: Maximilian Kolbe}}'', with [[Edward Żentara]] as Kolbe. The [[Senate of Poland|Polish Senate]] declared 2011 to be the year of Maximilian Kolbe.<ref name="senat"/>

In 2023, the Mexican production company Dos Corazones Films released the animated feature film ''Max'', which recounts part of the Franciscan's life.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Silva |first=Matilde Latorre de |date=2023-10-19 |title='Max', la conmovedora película animada con un héroe real: el santo que se sacrificó por un padre en Auschwitz |url=https://www.eldebate.com/religion/catolicos/20231019/max-conmovedora-pelicula-animada-heroe-real-santo-sacrifico-padre-auschwitz_147320.html |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=El Debate |language=es}}</ref>

[[File:Maksymilian kolbe pomnik park jordana krakow.jpg|thumb|A bust of Kolbe in [[Henryk Jordan Park, Kraków|Henryk Jordan Park]] in [[Kraków]]]]

==Immaculata prayer==
Kolbe composed the [[Immaculata prayer]] as a prayer of [[Consecration and entrustment to Mary|consecration to the Immaculata]].<ref name="University of Dayton Marian prayers"/>

==See also==
* [[Holocaust theology]]
* [[Maximilian of Tebessa]]
* [[Peter Fehlner]]
* [[Sisters Minor of Mary Immaculate]]
* [[Élise Rivet]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="Media katolickie w III Rzeczypospolitej (1989–2009)">{{cite journal|last1=Łęcicki|first1=Grzegorz|title=Media katolickie w III Rzeczypospolitej (1989–2009)|journal=Kultura Media Teologia|date=2010|volume=2|issue=2|pages=12–122|url=http://www.kmt.uksw.edu.pl/media-katolickie-w-III-rzeczpospolitej-artykul|access-date=17 January 2015|trans-title=Catholic media in the Third Rzeczpospolita (1989–2009)|publisher=Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego|language=pl|issn=2081-8971|archive-date=5 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205215819/http://www.kmt.uksw.edu.pl/media-katolickie-w-III-rzeczpospolitej-artykul|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Patron">Saints Index; [https://web.archive.org/web/20120201110545/http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-maximilian-kolbe/ Catholic Forum.com, Saint Maximilian Kolbe]{{self-published source|date=October 2022}}</ref>{{self-published source|date=October 2022}}

<ref name="anniversary">{{cite journal |last1=Czupryk |first1=Father Cornelius |year=1935 |journal=Mugenzai No Seibo No Kishi |publisher=Mugenzai no Sono Monastery |title=18th Anniversary Issue }}</ref>

<ref name="ArmstrongPeterson2010-50">{{cite book|last1=Armstrong |first1=Regis J. |last2=Peterson |first2=Ingrid J. |title=The Franciscan Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q9lcEYr-UtsC&pg=PA50|year=2010|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-3922-1|page=50}}</ref>

<ref name="ArmstrongPeterson2010-51">{{cite book|last1=Armstrong |first1=Regis J. |last2=Peterson |first2=Ingrid J. |title=The Franciscan Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q9lcEYr-UtsC&pg=PA51|year=2010|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-3922-1|page=51}}</ref>

<ref name="BeckyReady">{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/KOLANTI.htm|title=Becky Ready|work=ewtn.com}}</ref>

<ref name="biosummary">{{cite web|url=http://www.consecration.com/default.aspx?id=165 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102091901/http://www.consecration.com/default.aspx?id=41 |archive-date= 2 January 2014 |title=Biographical Data Summary |publisher=Consecration Militia of the Immaculata |access-date=10 October 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="catholic-pages">{{Cite web |title=Saint Maximilian Kolbe {{!}} Catholic-Pages.com |url=http://www.catholic-pages.com/saints/st_maximilian.asp |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803192059/http://www.catholic-pages.com/saints/st_maximilian.asp |archive-date=3 August 2020 |access-date=18 April 2022 |website=Catholic-Pages.com}}</ref>

<ref name="Daily Prayers">{{cite web |url=http://www.marypages.com/DailyPrayers.htm |title=Daily Prayers |publisher=Marypages.com |access-date=10 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015231455/http://marypages.com/DailyPrayers.htm |archive-date=15 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="Dershowitz1992">{{cite book|last=Dershowitz |first=Alan M. |title=Chutzpah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3jjNW-_TnusC&pg=PA143|date=1 May 1992|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-76089-2|page=143}}</ref>

<ref name="ewtn">{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/kolbe2.htm |title=Blessed Maximilian Kolbe-Priest Hero of a Death Camp by Mary Craig |publisher=Ewtn.com |access-date=10 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007002629/http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/kolbe2.htm|archive-date=7 October 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/oct/10/maximilian-kolbe-sainthood-meaningful |title=Maximilian Kolbe's story shows us why sainthood is still meaningful |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=10 October 2011 |location=London |first=Steven |last=Hepburn}}</ref>

<ref name="Historia">{{cite web|url=http://www.radioniepokalanow.pl/o-nas/historia.html|title=Historia|access-date=30 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006121408/http://www.radioniepokalanow.pl/o-nas/historia.html|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Holy Mass at the Brzezinka Concentration Camp">{{cite web| url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19790607_polonia-brzezinka_en.html |title=Holy Mass at the Brzezinka Concentration Camp |publisher=Vatican |access-date=10 October 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="jta">{{cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/1983/01/03/archive/scholars-reject-charge-st-maximilian-was-anti-semitic|title=Scholars Reject Charge St. Maximilian Was Anti-semitic|work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Kolbe, Saint of Auschwitz">{{cite web|url=http://auschwitz.dk/Kolbe.htm |title=Kolbe, Saint of Auschwitz |publisher=Auschwitz.dk |access-date=10 October 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Michael2008">{{cite book|last=Michael |first=Robert |title=A History of Catholic Antisemitism: The Dark Side of the Church|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZnFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA154|date=1 April 2008|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-61117-7|page=154}}</ref>

<ref name="National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe">{{cite web|url=http://www.marytown.com/content/national-shrine-of-st-maximilian-kolbe|title=National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe|access-date=30 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006103829/http://www.marytown.com/content/national-shrine-of-st-maximilian-kolbe|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Niepokalanów">{{cite web|url=http://www.franciszkanie-warszawa.pl/niepokalanow|title=Niepokalanów|access-date=30 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006114330/http://www.franciszkanie-warszawa.pl/niepokalanow|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="OFMI">{{cite web|url=http://www.ofmi.net/friars.html |title=O.F.M.I. Friars |publisher=Franciscan Friars of Mary Immaculate |access-date=10 October 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="peterson">{{cite book|last=Peterson |first=Anna L. |title=Martyrdom and the Politics of Religion: Progressive Catholicism in El Salvador's Civil War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ieyeKxd8BfoC&pg=PA94|year=1997|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-3182-5|page=94}}</ref>

<ref name="Plunka2012">{{cite book|last=Plunka |first=Gene A. |title=Staging Holocaust Resistance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQPHAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA21|date=24 April 2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-00061-3|page=21}}</ref>

<ref name="psb296">Czesław Lechicki, ''Kolbe Rajmund'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XIII, 1968, p. 296</ref>

<ref name="psb297">Czesław Lechicki, ''Kolbe Rajmund'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XIII, 1968, p. 297</ref>

<ref name="Publishing2013">{{cite book|author=Catholic Way Publishing|title=My Daily Prayers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVfpAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT249|date=27 December 2013|publisher=Catholic Way Publishing|isbn=978-1-78379-029-6|page=249}}</ref>

<ref name="qrz">{{cite web|url=http://www.qrz.com/db/SP3RN |title=SP3RN @ |publisher=qrz.com |access-date=18 December 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="relics">{{cite web|url=http://www.pastoralcentre.pl/first-class-relics-st-maximilian-kolbe/|publisher=Pastoral Centre|title=The First-Class Relics of St Maximilian Kolbe|access-date=5 December 2013|archive-date=21 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121144117/http://www.pastoralcentre.pl/first-class-relics-st-maximilian-kolbe/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="Sanktuarium Św. Maksymiliana – Zduńska Wola – DIECEZJA WŁOCŁAWSKA -KURIA DIECEZJALNA WŁOCŁAWSKA">{{cite web|url=http://www.diecezja.wloclawek.pl/pl/262/sanktuarium-sw-maksymiliana-zdunska-wola|title=Sanktuarium Św. Maksymiliana – Zduńska Wola – DIECEZJA WŁOCŁAWSKA -KURIA DIECEZJALNA WŁOCŁAWSKA|access-date=30 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006074002/http://www.diecezja.wloclawek.pl/pl/262/sanktuarium-sw-maksymiliana-zdunska-wola|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="senat">UCHWAŁA SENATU RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ z dnia 21 października 2010 r.o ogłoszeniu roku 2011 Rokiem Świętego Maksymiliana Marii Kolbego [http://www.senat.gov.pl/k7/dok/uch/063/930uch.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806032336/http://www.senat.gov.pl/k7/dok/uch/063/930uch.pdf |date=6 August 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Sixty-ninth Anniversary of the Death of St. Maximilian Kolbe">{{cite web |url=http://en.auschwitz.org/m/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=795&Itemid=8 |title=Sixty-ninth Anniversary of the Death of St. Maximilian Kolbe |publisher=Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum |access-date=10 October 2012 |archive-date=4 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304201831/http://en.auschwitz.org/m/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=795&Itemid=8 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="smmkolbeci">{{cite web|url=http://www.smmkolbe.pl|title=Parafia p.w.w. M.M. Kolbego w Szczecinie – Aktualności|access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Strzelecka1984">{{cite book|last=Strzelecka |first=Kinga |title=Maksymilian M. Kolbe: für andere leben und sterben|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBeCGwAACAAJ|year=1984|publisher=S&#91;ank&#93;t-Benno-Verlag|page=6|language=de}}</ref>

<ref name="University of Dayton Marian prayers">{{cite web |url=http://campus.udayton.edu/mary//prayers/consec01.html#2 |title=University of Dayton Marian prayers |publisher=Campus.udayton.edu |date=24 March 2009 |access-date=10 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211015531/http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/prayers/consec01.html#2 |archive-date=11 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="westminster">{{cite web|url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/maximilian-kolbe |title=Maximilian Kolbe |publisher=Westminster Abbey |access-date=10 October 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Yallop2012">{{cite book|last=Yallop |first=David |title=The Power & the Glory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Xs8AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT203|date=23 August 2012|publisher=Constable & Robinson Limited|isbn=978-1-4721-0516-5|page=203}}</ref>

<ref name="Zizek2012">{{cite book|last=Zizek |first=Slavoj |title=Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAqM5rxWWKwC&pg=PA121|date=22 May 2012|publisher=Verso Books|isbn=978-1-84467-902-7|pages=121–122}}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
|last=Rees
|first=Laurence
|year=2005
|title=Auschwitz: A New History
|url=https://archive.org/details/auschwitznewhist00rees
|url-access=registration
|location=New York
|publisher=Public Affairs
|isbn=978-1-58648-357-9
}}     
* Smith, Jeremiah J. (1951).  Saint Maximilian Kolbe : Knight of the Immaculata. Rockford, IL:  Tan. ISBN 978-0895556196

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080416201907/http://saints.sqpn.com/saintm01.htm Patron Saints Index: Saint Maximilian Kolbe<!-- bot-generated title -->]
* [http://david-gooderson.co.uk/stage-plays/kolbes-gift.php ''Kolbe's Gift''], a play by David Gooderson about Kolbe and his self-sacrifice in Auschwitz based on factual evidence and conversations with the late [[Józef Garliński]]
* [http://www.pastoralcentre.pl/st-maximilian-kolbe-kazimierz-braun/ A Man Feared by the 21st Century: Saint Maximilian Kolbe from the Starvation Bunker in Auschwitz] – a drama by [[:pl:Kazimierz Braun (reżyser)|Kazimierz Braun]]
* [http://catholicism.org/maximilian-kolbe.html ''Saint Maximilian Kolbe''], a popular biography at Catholicism.org
* [http://niepokalanow.eu./ Niepokalanów in English]
* [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=370 ''Catholic Online, St. Maximilian Kolbe''], Catholic Online.Inform-Inspire-Ignite.
* [http://www.saintmaximiliankolbe.com/ St. Maximilian Kolbe Website]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDccf5cAFCU An "Insight" episode which mentions Maximilian Kolbe], who was portrayed by [[Werner Klemperer]]
* [http://www.radiokolbe.org/ ''Radio Kolbe'', International Radio Group OM / SWL / BCL (Based in Italy)]
* [https://kolbeshrine.org/ National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe - Libertyville, IL USA]

{{Catholic saints|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Poland|Saints}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolbe, Maximilian}}
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