He was liberated there by the Allies, after spending five years, five months, and nine days in Nazi camps in total. Francziszek Gajowniczek lived to the ripe old age of 93 thanks to the self-sacrifice of a Polish Franciscan priest in Auschwitz in July 1941. Mr. Gajowniczek was 41. Article commenting is temporarily unavailable while we carry out essential upgrade work. His widow, Janina Gajowniczek, told The Associated Press that her husband "had a deep sense of Kolbe's presence and had a feeling Kolbe will know when to take him. He has a wife and family. He arrived at Auschwitz on 8 October 1940. Franciszek Gajowniczek, later transported to Sachsenhausen, survived until the liberation of the camp by the U.S. forces in 1945. Eventually, after 15 days in a cell without food or drink, he was killed with a phenol injection and his body was burnt in Crematorium No. Some prisoners had attempted to escape, and the Nazi response was to kill prisoners as a lesson against trying such things. Franciszek Gajowniczek, the Polish army sergeant whose life was spared when a Franciscan monk took his death sentence at Auschwitz 53 years ago, died on Monday in the Polish city of Brzeg. In the picture: the camp death certificate of Maximilian Kolbe issued on 19 August 1941. The man that cried out for his family that day, who Maximilian gave his life for, was named Franciszek Gajowniczek. Franciszek Gajowniczek (November 15, 1901 – March 13, 1995) was a Polish army sergeant whose life was saved by priest St. Maximilian Kolbe by volunteering to die in his place. In 1971 Fr. The survivor of this death camp provided inspiring introductory remarks which included his first sentence: “I want to express my thanks, for the gift of life.” At the turn of July and August 1941, after the escape of one of the prisoners, the Germans appointed ten randomly selected prisoners, in retaliation condemning them to death by starvation in the basement of block No. 11. We apologise for any inconvenience caused but are excited to bring you a host of new commenting features very soon. After ten days, on Aug. 14, 1941, he and three others remained alive. (Photo by Wojtek Laski/Getty Images) "He was blamed for this at the camp. On 14 August 1941, he was murdered with a phenol injection. Gajowniczek was one of 10 inmates of the Nazi camp selected for death in reprisal for the escape of another prisoner. He always expressed the desire that he should be buried in the Franciscan cemetery at the monastery, a wish respected by his family. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? 16670) on 29 July 1941, he sacrificed his life to save a person selected for starvation death after an escape of a prisoner. This interpretative biography is based upon his writings and first-hand testimonies from people who knew him. Gajowniczek had been sent to Auschwitz concentration camp from Gestapo prison in Tarnów. One of the 10 selected to die, Franciszek Gajowniczek, began to cry: My wife! Kolbe was beatified and one year after Kolbe’s beatification, Franciszek Gajowniczek and nearly 150,000 pilgrims went to Auschwitz on the anniversary of his … Last December, at Niepokolanow, he took part in commemorations marking the centenary of Kolbe's birth. {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}. He died on 14 August 1941, murdered by an injection of phenol in the basement of the so-called Block of Death. Gajowniczek said he and the other prisoners in the death lineup realized that Kolbe's gesture was the work of God because the Nazi commander agreed to it. of death of Fr. Franciszek Gajowniczek–the stranger who Father Kolbe sacrificed himself to save. Mr. Gajowniczek attended the canonization ceremony in St. Peter's Square and spent much of his life after World War II bearing witness to the sacrifice made for him by Father Kolbe. Franciszek Gajowniczek - retired soldier, former prisoner of German concentration camp Auschwitz, whose life was saved by Saint Maximilian Kolbe. The Franciscan priest-martyr Maximilian Kolbe died at Auschwitz in 1941. … Francziszek Gajowniczek: born Stradchomin, Poland 1901; died Brzeg, Poland 13 March 1995. Francziszek Gajowniczek lived to the ripe old age of 93 thanks to the self-sacrifice of a Polish Franciscan priest in Auschwitz in July 1941. They lost a priest and confidant.". Father Maximilian Kolbe was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1971 and canonized by Pope John Paul II on 10 October 1982 with Franciszek Gajowniczek in attendance. I won’t ever forget my visit nor will I forget the fluttering wings of the butterfly that danced past a gas chamber that day. The Man He Sacrificed for Lived to 94 Franciszek Gajowniczek, the man that Kolbe had stood in for, survived the Holocaust and died in Brzeg in 1995. He also kept in close contact with Fr Maximilian's Franciscan community at Niepokolanow, near Warsaw. His first wife, Helena, died in 1977. "He felt guilty," said the Rev. In his sermon, he mentioned the example of Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish friar who offered to take the place of a stranger, Franciszek Gajowniczek, condemned to be starved to death at Auschwitz. When a camp prisoner appeared t… Then a German doctor came and killed them with injections of carbolic acid. In July 1941 in the Auschwitz concentration camp, a Nazi officer selected a group of prisoners to die a slow death by starvation. There, the difference between life and death often remained up to the macabre game … He joined the Polish army as a young man and was given a commendation for his role in the 1920 Battle of the Vistula, when the Poles defeated the Red Army which had moved in to crush Polish independence. Gajowniczek survived the camp and died in 1995. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. The commandant agreed to the switch. Between 1940-45 Germans incarcerated at least 464 priests, seminarians & monks as well as 35 nuns in the Auschwitz camp. Gajowniczek was spared. Two months later he offered his life for Franciszek Gajowniczek, designated by the SS to death by starvation in reprisal for the escape of one of the prisoners. I am alone. One of them, Polish army sergeant Franciszek Gajowniczek reportedly cried out in anguish that he … Gajowniczek was born in the Polish town of Stradchomin in 1901. When the punishment was imposed because another inmate had escaped, Mr. Gajowniczek, who was a farmer in civilian life, pleaded that he should be spared because he had a wife and children. The priest was Maximilian Kolbe and Gajowniczek lived to see the day 40 years later when, in October 1982, Kolbe was canonised by a fellow-Pole, Pope John Paul II, at St Peter's in Rome. The church defended the friar, who was imprisoned in a roundup of Polish intellectuals, as reflecting some bias that was characteristic of the country and the times. Mr. Gajowniczek, one of several prisoners selected by the Nazis to die by starvation in a dungeon at Auschwitz called the "hunger bunker," survived because the Rev. Gajowniczek was … " The priest also contended that he was "elderly," Mr. Gajowniczek said. In the summer of 1941, Franciszek Gajowniczek, a Polish soldier, was one of thousands held prisoner in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. He was well educated attending the Pontifical University in Rome where he earned degrees in philosophy and theology. Knowing Gajowniczek was married with a family, the priest stepped forward, asking to take his place in the underground starvation cell. Read our full mailing list consent terms here. He was religious from a young age. Gajowniczek was present in Rome to witness official church recognition of the priest who had saved his life. A year later, Kolbe and his brother enrolled at the Franciscan seminary where he professed his final vows in 1914. — In gratitude for the self-sacrifice of Maximilian Kolbe, Gajowniczek devoted much of the rest of his life to promoting knowledge of the Franciscan, giving talks about the saint in various countries. Watch this space. His life ended on March 22 2017, after he had killed five pedestrians and left others with “catastrophic injuries” by driving into them on Westminster Bridge, and stabbed a … 29 July 1941 | After an escape from #Auschwitz of a Polish prisoner Zygmunt Pilawski SS authorities selected 10 prisoners for starvation death. He was by now in an advanced state of tuberculosis, and he felt himself overshadowed by death. Maximilian #Kolbe who sacrificed his life for another prisoner Franciszek Gajowniczek. He survived the camp, and he was able to go back home to his family after the war. When the church decided to canonize Father Kolbe, the specter of anti-Semitism in his past arose. I am a Catholic priest.' In 1971 Fr. One of those chosen, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out in desperation, ‘My wife, my children!’ On seeing his terror, Kolbe stepped forward and took Gajowniczek’s place. Father Kolbe was then 47. The switch was permitted; after all his cellmates died, Kolbe (prisoner 16670) was put to death with an injection of carbolic acid. POLAND - 1971: Franciszek Gajowniczek Saint Maximilian Kolbe's portrait in the background. The switch was permitted; after all his cellmates died, Kolbe (prisoner 16670) was put to death with an injection of carbolic acid. At the age of 12, he received a vision of the Virgin Mary, who offered him two paths in life – one of purity and one of martyrdom. He traveled across Europe and the United States, giving talks about the priest and helping dedicate new churches in his name. When he outlived many of the other men, he was killed by lethal injection. Each day, he celebrated Mass for the other starving prisoners and prayed and sang with them. During his time in the death cell, Maximilian led the prisoners in prayer. After his release, he and his wife Janina settled in Brzeg, near Opole in southern Poland, remaining there until his death. 1. Father Maximilian Kolbe offered his life in the man's place. This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. In the underground cell the priest sought to console the condemned men, leading them in prayers and hymns. Thaddeus Horbowy, who translated for Mr. Gajowniczek during his visit to the St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Houston last year. Krakow, Poland, (CNA) - 9 July 1941 | After an escape from #Auschwitz of a Polish prisoner Zygmunt Pilawski SS authorities selected 10 prisoners for starvation death. At the end of July 1941, one prisoner escaped from the camp, prompting SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch, the deputy camp commander, to pick ten men to be starved to death in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. He accepted both. On a visit to the United States last December, Mr. Gajowniczek told the story himself: "Father Kolbe told the commandant, 'I want to go instead of the man who was selected. Maximillian Kolbe, born in 1894, was a Polish Franciscan friar. Joining his wife after the war, he found out their sons had died due to the bombing of his hometown. Upon closing the door to the death cell in the terrifying bloc nr 11, a Nazi German soldier allegedly told those sentenced to death “you will wither like tulips.” “At first, the prisoners were screaming out of despair, blaspheming against God. He was captured while crossing the border with Slovakia after the defeat of the Modlin Fortress … Gajowniczek was appointed by President Lech Walesa to the committee which organised last January's commemoration at Auschwitz of the 50th anniversary of the camp's liberation towards the end of the war. Franciszek Gajowniczek confirmed that Father Kolbe was encouraging other prisoners. When a prisoner escaped from the camp, the Nazis selected 10 others to be killed by starvation in reprisal for the escape. Franciszek Gajowniczek, a Roman Catholic, was born in Strachomin near Mińsk Mazowiecki. Mr. Gajowniczek, one of several prisoners selected by the Nazis to die by starvation in a dungeon at Auschwitz called the "hunger bunker," survived because the Rev. He shouted out that he had a wife and children and the inmates became brutal and mean to him. When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, "My wife! He was the creator of a major religious publishing concern, and excerpts from its publications indicated open disapproval of what he considered an excessive presence of Jews in Polish economic life. Franciszek Gajowniczek Dead; Priest Died for Him at Auschwitz. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. They were killed in 1945 during a Soviet bombardment. During th… Gajowniczek was sent from Auschwitz to Sachsenhausen concentration camp on October 25, 1944. As a prisoner of Auschwitz (no. His love for Mary Immaculate now became the devouring characteristic of his life. Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. He said he wanted to go instead of me,” Franciszek Gajowniczek recounted in 1946. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The wish was granted and the priest died there the following month. Poland, in 1971. Many of these witnesses the author himself has known and interviewed, including the man for whom Fr. ", See the article in its original context from. Franciszek Gajowniczek Grave (grób Franciszka Gajowniczka) - panoramio (1).jpg 4,000 × 2,672; 4.78 MB Franciszek Gajowniczek Grave (grób Franciszka Gajowniczka) - … Maksymilian Kolbe volunteered to take his place. Ten prisoners were chosen at random to be starved to death. He spent more than five years in Auschwitz and in another Nazi camp, Sachenhausen. One of them, Franciszek Gajowniczek, begged for mercy. Gajowniczek was captured by the Gestapo in Zakopane and sentenced to forced labour in Tarnów. On another note; try to be respectful if you go. On May 28, 1941, he was imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp. His mission to "repay a debt", as he put it, was rewarded in 1971, when Kolbe was beatified by Pope Paul VI, and reached its climax when he was declared a saint in 1982. One of them, Franciszek Gajowniczek, begged for mercy. At this Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and asked to die in his place. Upon hearing that he was sentenced to die, Franciszek Gajowniczek - a sergeant in the Polish army and father of two - burst into tears, prompting the … "Now," she added, "he has gone to Kolbe. He was a professional soldier who took part in the defense of Wieluń as well as Warsaw in September 1939. Franciszek Gajowniczek, a husband and father, was one of these sentenced to death. Mr. Gajowniczek spent five years, five months and nine days in Auschwitz. After the reconstitution of sovereign Poland, he moved to Warsaw in 1921, married, and had two sons. He was 94. After putting pen to paper, I finally managed to get some sleep. In 1940, as a sergeant, Gajowniczek was captured by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz, where he was branded with the number 5659. Father Kolbe was beatified in 1971 and in 1982, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Father Kolbe a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. The Mass at the former German #Auschwitz camp on the 78th anniv. Father Maksymilian Kolbe (actually: Rajmund Kolbe) was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp on May 28, 1941 from the Pawiak prison in Warsaw. He also spoke out against Freemasons and Communists, movements he also associated with Jews. Kolbe sacrificed his life, Franciszek Gajowniczek. Day, who translated for Mr. Gajowniczek spent five years, five months, and he felt overshadowed... 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