In February, 1941, Maximilian Kolbe (a Franciscan priest) was incarcerated at Auschwitz. In the brutality of the slaughterhouse he maintained the gentleness of Christ. He shared his food, gave up his bunk, and prayed for his captors. He was soon nicknamed “Saint of Auschwitz.” In July, 1941 there was an escape from the prison. It was the custom at Auschwitz to kill ten prisoners for every one who escaped. All the prisoners would be gathered in the courtyard and the commandant would randomly select ten names from the roll book. These victims would be immediately taken to a cell where they would receive no food or water until they died. The commandant began calling names. At each selection, another prisoner would step forward to fill the sinister quota. The tenth name he called was “Gajowniczek.” As the SS officers checked the numbers of the condemned, Gajowniczek began to sob–“My wife and my children,” he wept.
The officers turned as they heard movement among the prisoners. Maximilian Kolbe was leaving his row and pushing his way to the front. There was no fear on his face and no hesitancy in his step. The commandant shouted at him to stop or be shot. “I want to talk to the commander,” he said calmly. For some reason the officer did not kill him. Kolbe stopped a few paces from the commandant, removed his hat, and looked the German officer in the eye.
“Herr Kommandant, I wish to make a request, please; I want to die in the place of this prisoner.” He pointed to the sobbing Gajowniczek. It was a bold request. “I have no wife and children; I am old and more useless.” Kolbe knew well the Nazi mentality. “Who are you?” the officer asked. “A Catholic priest,” was the reply. The prisoners were stunned. The commandant was unusually speechless. After a moment, he barked, “Request granted.”
Prisoners were never allowed to speak. Gajowniczek said later, ” I could only thank Kolbe with my eyes; I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on. The immensity of it! I, the condemned, was to live and someone else willingly and voluntarily offered his life for me, a stranger.”
The “Saint of Auschwitz” outlived the other nine prisoners. In fact, he did not die of thirst or starvation. He died only after the camp doctor injected phenol into his heart. It was August 14, 1941. The “Saint of Auschwitz” is a reflection of One who, nearly 2,000 years earlier, had appeased the wrath of God by giving His life for the sins of the world. Of Jesus Christ, the Apostle John wrote, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2/NIV).
July/August 1993
