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"What does this Polish pig want?" the commandant asked.

Father Kolbe said he wanted to take Gajowniczek's place.

The commandant agreed to this request, and sent Kolbe to the starvation chamber of the Death Block. Gajowniczek lived through the camp and died in 1997; Kolbe was killed in his place. When after two weeks of no drink and food Kolbe still had not died of starvation, the Nazis killed him with an injection of cabolic acid.

But before Kolbe's execution, the Death Block janitor later wrote, the underground cells were "like a church." Two cells down from where Jasienski would carve out a cross in 1944, Kolbe led the other nine men in fervent hymns and prayers. The prisoners came to the cross in desperation. It's the only way.

Agnieszka Tennant is an associate editor of Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

See the cross Stefan Jasienski scratched into his cell wall.

The official site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial has photographs of the camp and information on the establishment of the camp, those imprisoned there, and more.

Related Christianity Today articles include:

Suspended Sentence for Pole at Center of Auschwitz Controversy | Roman Catholic found guilty of racial hatred for placing crosses at Nazi camp. (Jan. 24, 2000)

In remembrance of the Holocaust, Books & Culture Corner looked each week in April at books that provide an opportunity for meaningful reflection on the Shoah:

"A Peculiar People" | The uniqueness of the Jews. (April 29, 2002)

A Grave in the Air, a Soul Dancing | Two remarkable collections of Holocaust testimony. (April 22, 2002)

'Nebuchadnezzar My Slave' | Was the Holocaust God's will? (April 15, 2002)

'In the Beginning Was the Holocaust'? | Blasphemy, rage, memory, and meaning of the Shoah. (April 8, 2002)

Previous Christianity Today articles by Agnieszka Tennant include:

Nuptial Agreements | Two models of marriage claim biblical warrant and vie for evangelicals' allegiance. Advocates of both claim good results. But do we have to choose? (March 15, 2002)

Adam and Eve in the 21st Century | When it comes to gender roles, CT readers oscillate between complementarian and egalitarian ideas. ? (March 15, 2002)

Possessed or Obsessed? | Many Christians say they are in need of deliverance but some may be giving demons more than their due. (August 24, 2001)

Seahorses, Egalitarians, and Traditional Sex-Role Reversal | A dispatch from the Christians for Biblical Equality conference (July 11, 2001)

The Ten Commandments Become Flesh | A Polish director prods European and American audiences to consider God's timeless standards. (Feb. 14, 2001)

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May (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46