Auschwitz I site. -) Fragment of the exhibition showing the photo of the first transport of Polish men to Auschwitz on 14 June 1940. Their arrival is considered to be the beginning of the functioning of the German Nazi camp Auschwitz. Watch a short video about their story: youtu.be/kKOZLEUo2QM -) Brick blocks for prisoners at Auschwitz I camp. The number of prisoners who were forced to sleep in each building was usually around 700-800 people. Watch a short film about the history and expansion of Auschwitz I: youtube.com/watch?v=4HaBzf-T… -) From the fall of 1941, prisoners in the camp slept on three-level bunk beds. Usually, two people had to share one level. A short video about blocks for prisoners in Auschwitz I: youtube.com/watch?v=M7ItChtA… -) Glasses robbed from the victims of Auschwitz. Our podcast about the process of plundering property in the camp: auschwitz.org/en/education/e… All photos: instagram.com/marypontes20

August 14, 1941 | In a cell located in the basement of Block 11 in the Auschwitz I camp, Franciscan friar Father Maksymilian Kolbe was killed with an injection of phenol by Hans Bock (prisoner no. 5), who at the time served as the block leader (Blockältester) in the prisoners’ hospital. In the death certificate issued to the camp administration, the time of death was recorded as 12:50, and the cause as “heart muscle failure.” 🎧 Our podcast about the arrest, imprisonment in Auschwitz, sacrifice of life, and death of Father Maksymilian Kolbe: youtu.be/lo4FEfUFXAo The Germans arrested Father Maksymilian Maria Kolbe (born January 8, 1894) in Niepokalanów on 17 February 1941, where he served as superior and guardian in the monastery. After several months of investigation in Pawiak prison in Warsaw, he was deported to Auschwitz, where he was registered on May 29. At the end of July that year, in retaliation for a prisoner’s escape, the camp authorities ordered that 10 prisoners from the same block be sentenced to death by starvation. One of the condemned, Franciszek Gajowniczek, pleaded for his life on account of his wife and children. Upon hearing this, Father Kolbe stepped forward and addressed the SS men, offering to take the place of the desperate prisoner. Karl Fritzsch, who was conducting the selection, agreed, and Father Kolbe joined the other prisoners who were led to the basement of Block 11. When the SS ordered the cell to be emptied, most of the prisoners were already dead; some still showed signs of life, among them Father Kolbe. The SS then decided to kill the surviving prisoners with injections of phenol. Father Kolbe was recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a martyr and beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1971. In 1982, Pope John Paul II declared him a saint. Franciszek Gajowniczek survived the camp. He died in 1995. (In the photos: Father Maksymilian Kolbe, camp death certificate of Father Kolbe, and the cell in the basement of Block 11 in which he was murdered.)