The Second World War and Father Kolbe's death

1939: Polish Franciscan friar and priest Father Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941) is confirmed as Guardian of Niepokalanów in Poland (1) by the Krakow Provincial Chapter (August 23-25). Along with thirty-six of his brothers, he is arrested by German troops on September 19, 1939, successively imprisoned in the Lamsdorf (Lambinowice), Amtitz (Gebice) and Ostrzeszow concentration camps, and released on December 8.

1940: At Father Maximilian's request, the German authorities authorize the printing of a single issue of the City magazine (December-January 1941; circulation 120,000), exclusively for the Warsaw zone.

1941: On February 17, Father Maximilian and four other priests are arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in the Warsaw prison. On May 28, on a train packed with prisoners, Father Maximilian arrives at the Oswiecim (Auschwitz) concentration camp, where he is assigned prisoner number 16670.

In July-August, in retaliation for the escape of a prisoner, a dozen inmates, including Father Maximilien who had voluntarily taken Franciszek Gajowniczek's place, are locked up in an underground bunker and condemned to die by starvation.

On August 14, Father Kolbe, the last survivor, after assisting his companions in their agony, is given a lethal injection of carbolic acid into his left arm. His remains are cremated on 15 August, the feast day of the Assumption of Mary.

1971: On October 17, in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Paul VI proclaims Father Maximilian Kolbe blessed.

1982: He is canonized on October 10 in Rome by Pope John Paul II.

Marian Encyclopedia

(1) Father Maximilian Kolbe founded the City of the Immaculate on October 16, 1917 in Rome, and a few years later opened a center in Niepokalanow, Poland.