Saint of Auschwitz: The Story of Maximilian Kolbe

by Diana Dewar

Portrays the life of the Christian saint, Maximilian Kolbe, and depicts his martyrdom in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz

Genres: Biography

146 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to find this book about Kolbe and read it, since the Church we frequent often is named after him. The book starts out with a reporters' open tone and just the facts. However, I was disappointed that a third of the way through the book the author picks up the tone of the Church. It makes it difficult for the reader, who is not Catholic, from Poland, or lived in Kolbe's time to understand the man.

The spelling of his name and places also varies from Polish to English. I think my students would be confused by that and the fact that the sacrifices the man made for others is not explained thoroughly.

Kolbe was a remarkable man, but this book, especially to a non-Catholic reader, paints him to be simply a religious zealot.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite St Max books. I like it precisely because it was written by a non-Cathiolic. It gets at kolbe's essence without trying to "make the case" like so many catholic authors would do.
Her description of Kolbe's conversation with another camp inmate who survived when they were assigned to move dead bodies to the creamatorium still moves me to tears.