Thank you so much everyone for coming out last night for the BRIDE OF THE TORNADO book launch at @BookvillExiles -- and special thanks to @cinapelayo for interviewing me and this amazing photo/video thread!
Maximilian Kolbe, a Saint that offered his life in the place of a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz.
Kolbe was a Franciscan priest and religious leader. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1939 for his anti-Nazism but was later released. He used the centre to shelter an estimated 2,000–3,000 Polish refugees, the majority of whom were Jewish, and continued to publish anti-Nazi publications.
He was again arrested in February 1941 on charges of aiding Jews and the Polish underground. He was imprisoned at Warsaw and then shipped to Auschwitz. There he continued his priestly ministry, including hearing confessions and holding mass with smuggled bread, for which he was subjected to beatings by the guards.
Following a prisoner’s escape, 10 men were randomly selected to die as punishment, and Kolbe volunteered his life in the place of Franciszek Gajowniczek, who was married with young children. Kolbe and the other nine prisoners were starved for weeks until he and the few others who were still alive were finally injected with carbolic acid and cremated.
Kolbe was beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982.
Pledge to stand with us as we call on building owners, managers, and homeowners to turn off excess lighting during migration season to prevent needless bird deaths and ensure that birds have safe and #BirdFriendly passage when it's time to migrate. https://t.co/2AyUdcszIn