1941
Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and saint (born 1894)
Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and saint (born 1894)
Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and saint (born 1894)
Maximilian Kolbe
Polish Franciscan friar and saint (1894–1941)
- Died
- 1941
Maximilian Maria Kolbe, OFM Conv. was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, priest, missionary, and martyr. He volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II. He had been active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, operating an amateur-radio station (SP3RN), and founding or running several other organizations and publications.