Editing Maximilian Kolbe (section)

== Martyrdom at Auschwitz==
At the end of July 1941, a prisoner escaped from the camp, prompting the deputy camp commander, ''[[Schutzstaffel|SS]]-[[Hauptsturmführer]]'' [[Karl Fritzsch]], to pick ten men to be starved to death in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men, [[Franciszek Gajowniczek]] (also a Polish Catholic), cried out, "My wife! My children!" Kolbe volunteered to take his place.<ref name="catholic-pages"/>

According to an eyewitness, who was an assistant janitor at that time, in his prison cell Kolbe led the prisoners in prayer. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. After they had been starved and deprived of water for two weeks, only Kolbe and three others remained alive.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zdzisław |first=Kijas |date=2020 |title=The Process of Beatification and Canonization of Maximilian Maria Kolbe |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1077602 |journal=Studia Elbląskie |language=English |issue=21 |pages=199–214 |issn=1507-9058}}</ref>

The guards wanted the bunker emptied, so they gave the four remaining prisoners lethal injections of [[phenol|carbolic acid]]. Kolbe is said to have raised his left arm and calmly waited for the deadly injection.<ref name="ewtn"/> He died on 14 August 1941. He was cremated on 15 August, the [[calendar of saints|feast day]] of the [[Assumption of Mary]].<ref name="psb297"/>