Franciszek Gajowniczek, a
Roman Catholic, was born in
Strachomin near
Mińsk Mazowiecki. After the
reconstitution of sovereign Poland, he moved to
Warsaw in 1921, married, and had two sons. He was a professional soldier, a
Polish army sergeant, who took part in the defense of
Wieluń as well as
Warsaw in September 1939 during the 1939
invasion of Poland by
Nazi Germany. After the
Battle of Modlin Gajowniczek was captured by the Gestapo in
Zakopane while crossing the border into
Slovakia and sentenced to forced labour in
Tarnów. Gajowniczek was transferred to
Auschwitz on 8 October 1940. He and Kolbe met as inmates of Auschwitz in May 1941. When a camp prisoner appeared to have escaped,
SS-
Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch ordered that ten other prisoners be executed by
starvation in reprisal. Gajowniczek (prisoner number 5659) was one of those selected at roll call. When priest
Maximilian Kolbe heard Gajowniczek cry out in agony over the fate of his family, he offered himself instead, for which he was later
canonized. The switch was permitted. After two weeks, Kolbe (prisoner number 16670) and the three other survivors were put to death by an injection of
carbolic acid.
After World War II On 17 October 1971, Gajowniczek was a special guest of
Pope Paul VI in the Vatican when Maximilian Kolbe was
beatified for his martyrdom. In 1972,
Time magazine reported that over 150,000 people made a
pilgrimage to Auschwitz to honor the anniversary of Kolbe's beatification. One of the first to speak was Gajowniczek, who declared "I want to express my thanks for the gift of life." He was buried at
Niepokalanów, a
religious community founded by Maximilian Kolbe, 53 years after Kolbe saved his life. He was survived by his second wife, Janina. ==References==