Maximilian Kolbe (8 Jan 1894 - 14 Aug 1941) was a Polish Franciscan who volunteered to die in the place of a stranger while incarcerated at Auschwitz concentration camp.
He was canonised on 10 Oct 1982 by Pope John Paul II and was declared a Martyr of Charity and patron saint of, among others, drug addicts and political prisoners.
His death came about after a man in his cell block at Auschwitz disappeared. The commander of the camp ordered that 10 men be starved to death in order to deter future escape attempts. One of the men chosen, Franciszek Gajowniczek, had a family and in desperation pleaded for mercy. Maximilian offered to take his place and the offer was accepted.
After three weeks of deliberate starvation, four of the ten were left clinging to life, among them Maximilian. Those in charge of the camp were unwilling and too impatient to let him die in his own time and instead determined to murder him. He was injected with carbolic acid. Maximilian did not allow himself to be taken by force and, instead, offered his arm to his executioner for the injection. An eye-witness described him doing so "with a prayer on his lips." Maximilian was found afterwards, by the same witness: "leaning in a sitting position against the back wall with his eyes open and his head drooping sideways. His face was calm and radiant." The body of the man who had 'disappeared' was discovered a while later.
Greater love hath no man than this - that he lay down his life for another.
St Maximilian, pray for us.
