I grew up being told the story of St. Maximillian Kolbe and his ultimate sacrifice. I remember the teacher telling us that they finally killed him by injecting him with phenol. I checked and that is what was used on St. Kolbe.
I am horrified to read that phenol causes chemical burns even on the skin. The nazis injected it into his heart. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering he must have gone through.
What I never quite understood was why the Nazis were killing Catholics.
In many countries the Catholic Church stood in stark opposition against both the Nazi and the Soviets regime.
Plus many Catholic priests and bishops harboured Jews. The Nazis didn't lile that
So, unfortunately I couldn't find any articles from the magazine, and most bibliographies gloss over his missionary work and his Militia Immaculata. [This](https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/01/10/a-magazine-launched-by-a-saint-is-still-thriving-100-years-later/) , at least shows the cover, which I love the boldness of, not seeing that kind of imagery in modern media (it's one thing to stab an ideology with a sword, but to show the ideology bleeding? That's style). But basically, the magazine criticized the Nazis in addition to writing against heresy and freemasonry.
I'm not sure about Poland, but apparently, they marched in parade during a festival while he was studying in Rome, and it made a really big impression.
In addition to anti-Catholicism being part of their strategy against Poland, they also wanted to remove Vatican influence from within Germany, which, while much less Catholic than Poland (that's a high bar though!) still had a sizeable Catholic population.
One of the goals was to destroy religion as it was a type of allegiance.
And considering that they were trying to take over Poland, all those not in Warsaw would have been Catholic. So that is 1.8 million Catholics right there that were murdered. And of course all those that survived the camps.
And since there are more than just Poles, there would be more Catholics than that number.
Yes, the Einsatzgruppen were given the order to liquidate the Polish intelligentsia and groups that would be able to intellectually define Poland. Their mission was described as an "ethno-political task" from the onset. They wanted to reduce Poland to a servile state where Poles would grow up as an eager, uneducated, and submissive work force. In order to do that, they had to destroy Polish national identity and the clergy whom they identified as prime candidates. Catholicism was so important to Polish identity that the Nazis felt they had to break up this power in order to destroy Poland itself as a concept. That's not to say all clergy were targetted, but they often could be.
The Nazi plans for Generalplan-Ost and Poland were incredibly dehumanizing and atrocious.
And equally so important that after WW2 and being under communist rule, the Churches were still allowed to run and people still celebrated Holy Days and such. Of course, it wasn’t fully free as there were limitations as thing that were allowed to be brought home but had to be shipped in secret from other countries.
I’m pretty sure they knew if they fully attempted to abolish the church, they would loose all control.
(Protestant here and this will be long and kind of rambling.)
For Poland, it was a way of subjugating the poles. Also, the Nazis had an anti-Christian animus given that it was founded by, well, Jews.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, The Twelve Disciples, Paul, John the Baptist were all Jewish enough to warrant being shot, gassed, or “exterminated through work.” Same with the Sanhedrin, Judas Iscariot, Pharisees, and (maybe) the Herodian Kings.
I bring this up because the Nazi’s paranoid and obsessive anti semitism is very important. They felt above all else they needed to be exterminated, otherwise you get another St Paul saying “there is no Jew nor Greek” or another Karl Marx calling on the “Workers of the World.”
According to the Nazis, if you want to make the world safe for the Master Race, first you had to kill every Jewish man, woman, and child. Then you can put every other race in their place so they can best serve the Aryan Herrenvolk.
It was the Catholic Church that preached most vocally against the T4 Euthanasia program. (Protestants did too but see below) You get rid of the Jews you can fi
Also, Nazis tried to Nazify the largest Protestant Church in Germany when they appointed a staunch Nazi as its head. The result was an utter quagmire and mess. You had schisms and resistance and by 1939 Hitler had sort of lost interest in the project.
Now, the Roman Catholic Church had its head *outside* of Germany. That posed an even *bigger* problem.
As for the painful way they killed Fr. Kolbe, “the cruelty is the point.”
So, there, best I can do right now. Sorry for the rambling.
>What I never quite understood was why the Nazis were killing Catholics.
They are servants of Satan and despise the Servants of God .And they see the Humanism of our Faith and despise it .
I have a background in Chemistry and phenol is known as a caustic chemical - it causes burns. It is painful even if dropped on the skin so I cannot imagine what kind of mind would think of injecting it inside another human being. The suffering must have been unimaginable. I am sure that St. Kolbe's love towards God is beyond anything that I can even imagine and that God must have rewarded him immeasurably for his ultimate sacrifice.
You are memorializing our saints and martyrs for everyone online to learn about. Much respect to you for taking on this endeavor. A modern chronicler of the faith.
There are plenty of them. God Bless. Quite a few gave their lives so that others could live. They didn't remind them they weren't ~~Christians~~ Catholics. They simply gave.
this is fantastic - thank you!
one note - I believe your "wilhelm graf" should redirect to [this link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willi_Graf) instead.
That's great and you're in for a long ride, in at least half of Europe a large amount of people were catholics so there's a lot of people to commemorate
Thank you OP! I find it sad that Catholic victims are often overlooked. My grandmothers uncle was a Catholic priest and he was very outspoken against the regime and was arrested and imprisoned. Thankfully he survived but the horrible treatment and threats towards his family left a deep mark.
hi u/dhammapada186, could you please add a column on the google sheet to add the corresponding wikipedia link? That way we can add which wikipedia link goes with which person, or maybe some other website link about the person. Thank you!
Very cool. Two questions.
1) Is it true that there were more Catholics in Auschwitz than jews ? ..or does that apply to the total count ?
2) What do you think of the following site ? https://remember.org/forgotten
I grew up being told the story of St. Maximillian Kolbe and his ultimate sacrifice. I remember the teacher telling us that they finally killed him by injecting him with phenol. I checked and that is what was used on St. Kolbe. I am horrified to read that phenol causes chemical burns even on the skin. The nazis injected it into his heart. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering he must have gone through. What I never quite understood was why the Nazis were killing Catholics.
In many countries the Catholic Church stood in stark opposition against both the Nazi and the Soviets regime. Plus many Catholic priests and bishops harboured Jews. The Nazis didn't lile that
Because St. Kolbe was sheltering Jews, if I recall.
He also had a newspaper in which he did not mince words.
What kinds of things did it say?
So, unfortunately I couldn't find any articles from the magazine, and most bibliographies gloss over his missionary work and his Militia Immaculata. [This](https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/01/10/a-magazine-launched-by-a-saint-is-still-thriving-100-years-later/) , at least shows the cover, which I love the boldness of, not seeing that kind of imagery in modern media (it's one thing to stab an ideology with a sword, but to show the ideology bleeding? That's style). But basically, the magazine criticized the Nazis in addition to writing against heresy and freemasonry.
Was Freemasonry a big problem in Poland back then?
I'm not sure about Poland, but apparently, they marched in parade during a festival while he was studying in Rome, and it made a really big impression.
In addition to anti-Catholicism being part of their strategy against Poland, they also wanted to remove Vatican influence from within Germany, which, while much less Catholic than Poland (that's a high bar though!) still had a sizeable Catholic population.
One of the goals was to destroy religion as it was a type of allegiance. And considering that they were trying to take over Poland, all those not in Warsaw would have been Catholic. So that is 1.8 million Catholics right there that were murdered. And of course all those that survived the camps. And since there are more than just Poles, there would be more Catholics than that number.
Yes, the Einsatzgruppen were given the order to liquidate the Polish intelligentsia and groups that would be able to intellectually define Poland. Their mission was described as an "ethno-political task" from the onset. They wanted to reduce Poland to a servile state where Poles would grow up as an eager, uneducated, and submissive work force. In order to do that, they had to destroy Polish national identity and the clergy whom they identified as prime candidates. Catholicism was so important to Polish identity that the Nazis felt they had to break up this power in order to destroy Poland itself as a concept. That's not to say all clergy were targetted, but they often could be. The Nazi plans for Generalplan-Ost and Poland were incredibly dehumanizing and atrocious.
And equally so important that after WW2 and being under communist rule, the Churches were still allowed to run and people still celebrated Holy Days and such. Of course, it wasn’t fully free as there were limitations as thing that were allowed to be brought home but had to be shipped in secret from other countries. I’m pretty sure they knew if they fully attempted to abolish the church, they would loose all control.
(Protestant here and this will be long and kind of rambling.) For Poland, it was a way of subjugating the poles. Also, the Nazis had an anti-Christian animus given that it was founded by, well, Jews. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, The Twelve Disciples, Paul, John the Baptist were all Jewish enough to warrant being shot, gassed, or “exterminated through work.” Same with the Sanhedrin, Judas Iscariot, Pharisees, and (maybe) the Herodian Kings. I bring this up because the Nazi’s paranoid and obsessive anti semitism is very important. They felt above all else they needed to be exterminated, otherwise you get another St Paul saying “there is no Jew nor Greek” or another Karl Marx calling on the “Workers of the World.” According to the Nazis, if you want to make the world safe for the Master Race, first you had to kill every Jewish man, woman, and child. Then you can put every other race in their place so they can best serve the Aryan Herrenvolk. It was the Catholic Church that preached most vocally against the T4 Euthanasia program. (Protestants did too but see below) You get rid of the Jews you can fi Also, Nazis tried to Nazify the largest Protestant Church in Germany when they appointed a staunch Nazi as its head. The result was an utter quagmire and mess. You had schisms and resistance and by 1939 Hitler had sort of lost interest in the project. Now, the Roman Catholic Church had its head *outside* of Germany. That posed an even *bigger* problem. As for the painful way they killed Fr. Kolbe, “the cruelty is the point.” So, there, best I can do right now. Sorry for the rambling.
>What I never quite understood was why the Nazis were killing Catholics. They are servants of Satan and despise the Servants of God .And they see the Humanism of our Faith and despise it .
I have a background in Chemistry and phenol is known as a caustic chemical - it causes burns. It is painful even if dropped on the skin so I cannot imagine what kind of mind would think of injecting it inside another human being. The suffering must have been unimaginable. I am sure that St. Kolbe's love towards God is beyond anything that I can even imagine and that God must have rewarded him immeasurably for his ultimate sacrifice.
You are memorializing our saints and martyrs for everyone online to learn about. Much respect to you for taking on this endeavor. A modern chronicler of the faith.
There are plenty of them. God Bless. Quite a few gave their lives so that others could live. They didn't remind them they weren't ~~Christians~~ Catholics. They simply gave.
Beautiful idea friend, thank you! Have you read The Priest Barracks?
Thanks to you I have yet another book to read :)
I've shared to r/CatholicProgrammers \- hope that helps. Thank you for your hard work!
this is fantastic - thank you! one note - I believe your "wilhelm graf" should redirect to [this link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willi_Graf) instead.
That's great work!
Very brave men and women. Hopefully the men of our age will find the bravery to be strong like the men of old
That's great and you're in for a long ride, in at least half of Europe a large amount of people were catholics so there's a lot of people to commemorate
Thank you OP! I find it sad that Catholic victims are often overlooked. My grandmothers uncle was a Catholic priest and he was very outspoken against the regime and was arrested and imprisoned. Thankfully he survived but the horrible treatment and threats towards his family left a deep mark.
This is a well made site with a beautiful mission - you should be very proud of this endeavor.
Nice evidence for edgy teenagers that think nazism and catholicism are still compatible.
Someone send this to Nick Fuentes now!
Yep or that mask mandates are equivalent to Nazism.
Thank you for making this site.
Wow! Great work
hi u/dhammapada186, could you please add a column on the google sheet to add the corresponding wikipedia link? That way we can add which wikipedia link goes with which person, or maybe some other website link about the person. Thank you!
Thank you for that! Bless you
Maybe someday you'll become the Catholic Patron of the internet (smh)
Very cool. Two questions. 1) Is it true that there were more Catholics in Auschwitz than jews ? ..or does that apply to the total count ? 2) What do you think of the following site ? https://remember.org/forgotten