Auschwitz
During the Second World War, in the Niepokalanów friary, Kolbe
provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland, including 2,000 Jews.
He was also active as a radio amateur, with Polish call letters SP3RN,
vilifying Nazi activities by reporting the facts. On February 17, 1941,
he was arrested by the German Gestapo and imprisoned in the Pawiak prison,
and, on May 25, was transferred to Auschwitz I as prisoner #16670.
In July 1941, a man from Kolbe's bunker had vanished, prompting Karl Fritzsch, the Lagerführer, to pick 10 men from the same bunker to be starved to death in the notorious torture block, Block 11, in order to deter further escape attempts. (The man who had disappeared was later found drowned in the camp latrine.) One of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, lamenting his family, and Kolbe volunteered to take his place.
After two weeks of starvation, only four of the ten men were still alive, including Kolbe. The cells were needed, and Kolbe and the other three were executed with an injection of carbolic acid in the heart.
© 2006 Human Life International Inc. All Rights Reserved