During his months at Auschwitz, Maximilian led others to act in peace by his own examples. He urged the prisoners to pray for their captors, to show peace to the guards and to overcome evil with good. His words and deeds inspired the prisoners and made him a much respected leader in the camp.
Maximilian Kolbe’s last act of heroism would come in July of 1941. Auschwitz had a rule that if anyone attempted to escape, ten men from the same bunker would be executed. One man from Kolbe’s block went missing (it was later discovered that he drowned in a latrine). Not knowing about the drowning, the guards selected ten men from the bunker for execution. Franciszek Gajowniczek was one of the men selected and cried out in dismay “my poor wife! My poor children! What will they do?” Moved with compassion, Kolbe stepped forward and asked the officer if he could take the man’s place.
Maximilian Kolbe and the 9 other men were thrown into the starvation bunker. To ease their suffering, Kolbe led the men in songs and prayers each day. Eventually, the men began to die and after two weeks only four remained. Needing the cell for more victims, the remaining four were injected with a lethal dose of carbolic acid on August 14, 1941. Bruno Borgowiec, one of the men stationed in the starvation bunker recalls that Maximilian was the only person conscious during the injection. He shocked those watching when he raised his arm for the injection and prayed for the executioner.
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