Maximilian Maria Kolbe,
O.F.M. Conv. (Polish:
Maksymilian Maria Kolbe ; 8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941) was a Polish
Conventual Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the
German death camp of
Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II. He was active in promoting the veneration of the
Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of
Niepokalanów near
Warsaw, operating a radio station, and founding or running several other organizations and publications.