The Martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe
One
The Arrest
Early in 1941, Kolbe printed the last edition of the Knight of Mary. Then he wrote, “No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?”
About 11:00 A.M. on February 17, 1941, the Nazi’s came again to arrest Kolbe. He greeted them with, “Praised be Jesus Christ.”
Two
Auschwitz
On May 28, 1941, St. Maximilian was taken to Auschwitz.
In Auschwitz the rule was every man for himself, survival of the fittest. Kolbe, however lived differently, he lived sacrificial love. He seemed never to think of himself. When food was brought in, everyone struggled to get his place to be sure of a share. Maximilian stood aside, so that frequently there was none left for him.
He was once asked whether such self-denial made sense in a place where every man was engaged in a struggle for survival, and he answered, "Every man has an aim in life. For most men it is to return home to their wives and families, or to their mothers. For my part, I give my life for the good of all men."
Prisoners recounted that they would come to Kolbe with their fears, “Father, I can’t endure this place any longer.” Kolbe encouraged them, “Place yourself under the protection of Mary just a child trustingly holds his mother’s hand, so you, too, must be calm and peaceful, for the Virgin Mary has you under her protection.”
Three
The Sacrifice
At the end of July 1941, one prisoner escaped. As a deterrent to further attempts of escape the commandant gave the order that ten co-prisoners would die for every one escape. The guard Fritsch lined up all the prisoners and picked ten men at random to be placed in the starvation bunker. He went around, and as if her were picking apples out of a barrel he pointed and said, “This one, that one…” As the last man was picked for execution, Franciszek Gajowniczek, he began to cry, "Oh, my poor wife, my poor children. I shall never see them again."
It was at that moment that one prisoner did the unthinkable. Kolbe stepped out of the ranks, approached the guard who was so started he shouted, “What do you want?”
Kolbe responded, “I want to take the place of that man.”
“Why?” the guard retorted.
“I am a Catholic Priest.”
And right where you are standing the exchange was made. Right where you are standing Kolbe did what we’re all supposed to do. “Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends.”
Are you practicing? Because Kolbe didn’t just show up and do that for the first time here. He had been practicing his whole life. Are you practicing?
The guard consented gladly to the exchange for the opportunity to kill a priest and so Kolbe joined the others in the starvation bunker. Two weeks went by. As each day passed Kolbe encouraged and consoled his dying comrades. Finally on August 14, they gave him a lethal injection and he died.
Four
The next day, August 15, Kolbe was cremated, and his ashes ascended to heaven on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
It was the Nazi’s who created the evil of Auschwitz. God and Maximilian Kolbe transformed this evil and suffering into the triumph of love.
I look at the barbed wire, the railroad track that only brought people in, not out. I look at the crematorium, I look at all the ways they had to torture people…and I ask, how could Kolbe do it. But it was simple. Kolbe belonged entirely to Mary. And if God and Our Lady had allowed him into this situation then, it was for only one reason, for his highest good, his transformation in love and the salvation of souls.
Just three days before the escape he was in a different cell block and he was transferred from block 12 to 14. And that was God’s Providence so that Kolbe could make the sacrifice and become love! So, whatever situation you find yourself in, it is not by coincidence. God’s Providence is watching over and guiding everything that happens to you.
Kolbe knew this. And it made him free. In fact, he was the only free person in the camp. Kolbe was a light in the midst of darkness
Five
Conversion
Maximilian Kolbe told his fellow prisoners he was offering his prayer, his suffering and even his death for the conversion of those who rejected God, especially for Rudolph Hoess, the Commandant of Auschwitz, who was personally responsible for millions of murders. After World War II, Hoess was captured and sentenced to death by hanging. While awaiting his death he was placed in solitary confinement for an extended period time.
There he reflected upon his life. He reflected on the way the Polish prison guards, some who had even been prisoners in Auschwitz, how they treated Hoess not with hatred or like an animal, but how they treated him as a fellow human being and with love. He reflected on his monstrous crimes.
Up to this time Hoess did not show remorse for his crimes and in fact blamed the authorities above him. Finally, on April 12th Rudolph Hoess wrote this formal declaration, “In the isolation of prison I have reached the bitter understanding of the terrible crimes I have committed against humanity. A Commandant of the extermination camp at Auschwitz, I have realized my part in the monstrous genocide of the Third Reich. By this means I caused humanity the greatest harm and I brought unspeakable suffering to the Polish nation. For my responsibility, I am now praying with my life. Oh, that God would forgive me my deeds. People of Poland, I beg you to forgive me!”
Rudolph Hoess begged the prison guards to find him a priest who would hear is confession. But no priest wanted to meet with the monster who murdered their family and friends. Finally Hoess remembered the name of the Jesuit priest who he would not let enter Auschwitz, Fr. Lohn.
Fr. Lohn was part of the Jesuits who were exterminated in Auschwitz, but when they were arrested in Krakow, Fr. Lohn was in the hospital and not taken. He felt so guilty that he went to Auschwitz and begged Hoess to admit him. But for some mysterious reason, Hoess told him to get away as fast as he could.
This priest was found in Krakow and brought to the prison. Hoess made a very, very, very long confession, and received the Eucharist on his knees with tears streaming down his face. Shortly after he was taken to Auschwitz and hung next to the spot where the cremation ovens stood.
Let us never despair of our loved ones who are far from Christ that we are trying to get into heaven. If Kolbe can get the Commandant, we can get ours! So, let’s have confidence and entrust our loved ones to Jesus and Mary.
At some point, God only knows when, he will be reunited with Kolbe. I am sure they will embrace and Hoess will thank Kolbe for his prayer and sacrifice that brought the grace to Hoess’ frozen soul to bring about his conversion, repentance and restoration to friendship with God.
Kolbe often spoke of the special reward given to those who, “burn with the desire to save souls, that God would reward them with the possibility and even facility of catching souls in the most effective way possible even after death.”
The miraculous repentance of Rudolph Hoess is a sign from Heaven that God rewarded Kolbe for his prayer and sacrifice. God will reward you for your prayer and sacrifice