Kolbe House
Patron
Kolbe House in named for St Maximilian Kolbe
Saint Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941)
Saint Maximilian Kolbe was Polish with German ethnic heritage and a Conventual Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II.
At the end of July 1941, three prisoners disappeared from the camp, prompting SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch, the Deputy Camp Commander, to choose 10 men to be starved to death in an underground bunker in order to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, “My wife! My children!” Kolbe volunteered to take his place.
After two weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe remained alive. The guards wanted the bunker emptied and so gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Some who were present at the injection say that he raised his left arm and calmly waited for the injection. His remains were cremated on August 15, the feast of the Assumption of Mary.
Symbol & Colour
The Symbol consists of a cross with rosary beads and barbed wire intertwined, signifying a man of the cloth imprisoned;
MK represents Maximilian Kolbe’s initials in the House colour of silver;
The Maroon stripes are the colours of St. Peter’s College set against gold stripes which represent the presence of God.
Lord, give us the gentle courage of Saint Maximilian who upheld what is right in the face of evil.
In giving his life for another, Saint Maximilian imitated you when you said “Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friend.”
May we see your face in those we serve.
Amen
“Sacrifice for the Service of Others”
This exemplifies the ultimate sacrifice that Maximilian Kolbe gave to save the life of a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz concentration camp when he voluntarily traded places with the condemned man.
