L'EROE DI OSWIECIM POLONIA 1941 - "The Hero of Auschwitz Poland 1941" - Rare publication about the life and murder at Auschwitz of Father Maximilian Kolbe when he volunteered to be punished and starve to death in place of another prisoner. Published by POSTULAZIONE GENERALE DELL'ORDINE DEI FRATI MINORI CONVENTUALI, Rome, 1947. Accompanied by photographs. Italian.
Important publication based on testimonies and memories of brothers from the Polish province about Father Massimiliano Kolbe's stay in the Auschwitz camp and his death there in the early stage of its operation, when he offered himself to die in place of another prisoner. After the outbreak of World War II, Kolbe was one of the few monks who remained in the monastery, where he organized a temporary hospital. He provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland including 2,000 Jews he hid from German persecution in the Niepokalanów monastery. On February 17, 1941, the monastery was closed by order of the German authorities. On that day, Kolbe and four others were arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in Pawiak prison. On May 28, he was transferred to Auschwitz in a transport of 400 political prisoners from Warsaw, among them 14 clergymen with him; upon arrival at Auschwitz he was given number 16670. When the group arrived at Auschwitz, it was attached to a group of Jews who had already undergone severe torture in the first days at the camp. He was placed in Block 17 and the camp commander Fritzsch ordered him to be specifically mistreated because of his religious position. He was subjected to forced labor building a wall around the crematorium, with a weight three times that of other working prisoners placed on his shoulders. In the camp, Kolbe became known among the prisoners for his willingness to help others. At mealtimes, he would stand at the end of the line, so that often he was left without food. What little food he received he would usually share with his barrack mates, and in the few rest hours he would go among the prisoners, asking how he could assist them.
Following an escape attempt by one prisoner (who was later found drowned in the camp latrines), the Bunker officer, SS Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch, held a roll call of all the prisoners from that escaped prisoner's barrack and randomly selected ten of them for death by starvation, so that the others would see and fear. One selected prisoner, Franciszek Gajowniczek, broke down crying and lamenting that he would never see his wife and children again. Kolbe immediately stepped forward and asked to take Gajowniczek's place and die instead of him. To the surprise of the prisoners, Fritzsch accepted and sent Kolbe along with the other nine prisoners to the notorious starvation cell 18 in the basement of Block 11, where they slowly wasted away. Prisoners passing the cell where they were locked in testified that they could hear the prisoners praying and singing Christian hymns as best they could, inspired by Father Kolbe. After two weeks in the Auschwitz cell, only four prisoners remained alive, including Kolbe. Since the cell was needed, each of them was given a lethal phenol injection. Kolbe raised his left arm and calmly waited for the lethal injection (this gruesome scene was chosen for the cover illustration of the book). According to Auschwitz records, Father Kolbe's precise time of death was on August 14, 1941 at 12:30 pm. His body was cremated on August 15 in the crematorium.
On October 10, 1982, Pope John Paul II declared Kolbe a saint.
Extremely rare. Does not appear in the World Cat library catalog.
XV, 285 p. Complete copy with original illustrated dust jacket depicting Maximilian Kolbe in the bunker presenting his arm to receive the death injection. Some pages were not cut in print at top. Very good condition.
