St maximilian kolbe biography books

Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar most famous for volunteering to die in place of a stranger at Auschwitz

Kolbe was born on January 8, 1894, as Rajmund Kolbe in Zduńska Wola, in the Kingdom of Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire.

Maximilian was the second son of Julius Kolbe and Maria Dabrowska. His father was an ethnic German and his mother of Polish origins.

St maximilian kolbe biography books

He had four brothers, Francis, Joseph, Walenty (who lived a year) and Andrew (who lived four years). His parents moved to Pabianice where they worked first as basket weavers. Later, his mother worked as a midwife (often donating her services), and owned a shop in part of her rented house which sold groceries and household goods.

Julius Kolbe worked at the Krushe and Ender Mill and also worked on rented land where he grew vegetables. In 1914, Julius joined Józef Piłsudski’s Polish Legions and was captured by the Russians for fighting for the independence of a partitione