An anti-Semite? Not Father Kolbe

The Tidings ^ | April 21, 2005 | Patricia Treece

[lizol]

An anti-Semite? Not Father Kolbe

By Patricia Treece

There is much that is good about "John Paul II: The Millennial Pope," a PBS "Frontline" presentation from 2002 that has re-aired in recent weeks.

Unfortunately, the program also accuses John Paul of canonizing an anti-Semite --- Polish Franciscan and WWII martyr of charity, St. Maximilian Kolbe. As one who was asked by Father Kolbe's religious order, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, to write his biography ("A Man for Others," Harper San Francisco, 1982), I should like to respond to that charge.

I told of Father Kolbe's extraordinary life through the testimonies of roughly 100 people who knew him. These people, representing all periods of his life, included Jews, a Muslim and other non-Christians as well as Protestants, atheists and fellow Catholics. All were unanimous that Kolbe lived his personal motto, "To love without limits," to a heroic level.

An anti-Semite? There are a number of testimonies to the contrary, including the Polish Catholic woman who asked him in the confessional during the Nazi invasion what she should "do about the Jews." Father Kolbe replied, "You must help them; they are our brothers."

I was also able to interview surviving witnesses in the Auschwitz line-up with him when Kolbe volunteered to die for the father of a family, a man condemned to the Nazis' ultimate punishment, the Hunger Bunker. Denied food or even a drop of water, inmates of the Hunger bunker often went crazy. They drank their own urine until it dried up and tried to bite chunks out of each other. A slave working in this hell survived to report Father Kolbe's Hunger Bunker of 10 was a place of prayer and hymns, he being the last to die.

As it turns out, the man he endured this death for was a Catholic, but it could have as well been a Jew, for Kolbe helped all.

Did Father Kolbe's 11 publications at the world's largest (800 friars) friary ever contain anything anti-Semitic while he was serving in Japan for three years? I hope they did not but since I did not read them all, I cannot offer proof. But I can vouch for Kolbe's own instructions to his editors: "It is never permissible to write anything that will foment hatred."

To follow that guideline, he was willing to pay with his life when the Nazis offered him a kind of German citizenship if he would follow their line in his publications. For sticking to his belief that a follower of Christ may not associate with doctrines of hate, they closed down Kolbe's publishing house and sent him to Auschwitz.

I can also vouch for another thing. Every word Kolbe himself wrote, even personal letters, was vetted by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints before he was canonized. No anti-Semitism was found by the Congregation. When those charges of anti-Semitism surfaced immediately after his canonization, all Kolbe's writings were gone over again by a joint Jewish-Catholic investigative team headed by Daniel Schlafly of St. Louis University and Warren Green from the St. Louis Holocaust Center. The Jewish-Catholic investigation exonerated Kolbe.

His alleged anti-Semitic writing was found to have been authored by a Polish priest who had no connection with Kolbe nor his friary. Unfortunately the charges --- which originated in Austria, were repeated by Richard Cohen of the Washington Post and picked up by others, including the New York Review of Books --- have continued to circulate some 23 years later. The exoneration materials, on the other hand, have gotten little press.

One final comment: Before the Nazis marched into Poland, Kolbe told his spiritual sons that Poland "was about to enter upon a time of atrocious suffering after which her light would shine on the whole world." I'm sure many readers will agree with me that John Paul II has been that light.

St. Maximilian Kolbe

[GipperGal]

Thanks for posting this! I was very troubled by that aspect of the Frontline documentary in question.

[lizol]

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[starfish923]

PBS and the history channel are INFAMOUS with these types of smear campaigns.

They ALWAYS start with the tempting title of "Life of Jesus," or "Mary the Mother of God," or whatever, then spend the next 50 minutes systematically lying and rewriting history for their nasty agenda.
This carries over, predictably so, to anything European, male and Christian. It's been going on, as I have noticed, for many years.
A very favorite of theirs is flaming Easter and the Resurrection of Jesus.
It's all just, er, butthump by the secular, anti-Christian, anti-European media.

[RushCrush]

Unfortunately the charges --- which originated in Austria, were repeated by Richard Cohen of the Washington Post and picked up by others, including the New York Review of Books --- have continued to circulate some 23 years later. The exoneration materials, on the other hand, have gotten little press.

Amazing and terrifying, the power of the MSM. Thanks for posting this article, debunking all the nonsense.

[lizol]

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[GipperGal]

They ALWAYS start with the tempting title of "Life of Jesus," or "Mary the Mother of God," or whatever, then spend the next 50 minutes systematically lying and rewriting history for their nasty agenda.

I know what you mean. I usually steer clear of their junk because it's almost always just some rehash of the nonsense from the chuckleheads at the "Jesus Seminar". I wouldn't have even watched thid particular episode of Frontline if it weren't for a friend involved in the project who said it was really beautifully done and overall a very powerful message. They do show a lot of angry dissenters of JPII in the documentary, but overall I think these people end up looking very foolish. Overall the piece is respectful. Take a look at it and you'll see what I mean. I recommended it to a lot of non-Catholic friends who found it deeply moving.