Saint Maximilian Kolbe was born Raymond Kolbe in 1894 in Zdunska Wola, Poland. He and his brother, Francis, went to the minor seminary of the Conventual Franciscan friars, and while there, he and other seminarians founded a group dedicated to Mary Immaculate called “Knights of the Immaculate.”
After Kolbe’s priestly ordination, this group published a newspaper and magazine. They also operated a radio station that was very influential in fostering devotion to Mary and opposing the rise of the Nazi regime.
Kolbe earned a doctorate in Philosophy and another in Theology from two different Roman universities. He went back to Poland and founded a Franciscan friary dedicated to Mary Immaculate called Niepokalanow (City of the Immaculate). It was from there that he continued his work through the media.
Desiring to do missionary work, Kolbe and a few friars set out for China, but meeting resistance there he went to Japan At Nagasaki he established another “City of the Immaculate” which survived the bombing at the end of World War II.
Returning to Poland in 1933, Kolbe lived at Niepokolanow, increasingly more critical of the Germans who had now overtaken the area. He established a hospital and took in many refugees from Poland including about 2,000 Jews whom he hid from Nazi detection.
Related: Virgin-Martyr Saint Maria Goretti: Materially Poor, Spiritually Rich