Maximilian Maria Kolbe (8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941) was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, priest, founder of the Militia Immaculatae (Knights of the Immaculate), and editor-in-chief of the monthly devotional journal Rycerz Niepokalanej (Knight of the Immaculate) and the daily newspaper Mały Dziennik (Little Daily). Beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1971 and canonized by Pope John Paul II on 10 October 1982, he is venerated as the patron saint of journalists, prisoners, and families. His complete writings are preserved in the three-volume critical edition Gli Scritti di Massimiliano Kolbe, Eroe di Osiecim e Beato della Chiesa (Florence: Edizioni Città di Vita, 1975–1978), acknowledged by scholars — including historians Daniel L. Schlafly Jr. and Warren Green writing in The New York Review of Books (14 April 1983) — as “the complete collection of Kolbe’s writings and sermons.”
The passages reproduced below are drawn exclusively from that collection and from the archived issues of Rycerz Niepokalanej as identified by their issue numbers and page references. They bear on the following themes of the Adversus Judaeos tradition: the Talmud‘s enmity toward Christ and Christians, the Jewish leadership of Freemasonry and Bolshevism, the Zionist programme for world domination, the Pharisees’ rejection of Christ, and the deicide as the root of Israel‘s subsequent ruin. All translations are those of the translators identified in the Sources section below. No word has been altered.
I. The Talmud: Its Origin in the Rejection of Christ
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 1, January 1926 — “The Poor Ones” (Biedni)
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 252–258)
“Some of the Jewish people recognized him as the Messiah, while others, especially the proud Pharisees, refused to recognize him. They persecuted his followers and passed a large number of laws that forced Jews to persecute Christians. These laws, along with some narratives from previous Rabbis, were collected in the year 80 AD by Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, and were finally completed around the year 200 by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, and thus the ‘Mishnah’ arose. Later Rabbis added many more things to the ‘Mishnah’, so that around the year 500 Rabbi Achai ben Huna was able to collect these appendices into a separate volume, called the ‘Gemara’. The ‘Mishnah’ and the ‘Gemara’ together constitute the ‘Talmud‘.”
II. The Talmud‘s Hatred of Christians and Christ
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 1, January 1926 — “The Poor Ones”
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 252–258)
“In the ‘Talmud‘ these Rabbis call Christians: idolaters, worse than the Turks, murderers, impure libertines, dung, animals in human form, worse than animals, children of the devil, etc. The priests are called ‘kamarim’, that is, fortune tellers, and ‘galachim’, that is, bald heads, but in particular they do not like souls consecrated to God in religious life.”
“Instead of ‘bejs tefila’, a house of prayer, they call the Church ‘bejs tifla’, a house of foolishness, of filth.”
“They call images, medals, rosaries, etc. ‘elylym’, that is, idols. In the Talmud, Sundays and holidays are called ‘jom ejd,’ that is, days of perdition.”
“They also teach that a Jew is permitted to deceive and rob a Christian, since ‘all the property of the unbelievers,’ that is, of the Christians, ‘is like the desert: whoever takes it first becomes its owner’ (baba batra).”
“This work, therefore, which contains twelve large volumes and which inspires hatred against Christ and Christians, is placed at the head of the Rabbis and the latter are obliged to instruct the people on the basis of it, adding that it is a sacred book, more important than Holy Scripture, so much so that God himself learns the ‘Talmud‘ and consults with the Rabbis who are experts in the ‘Talmud‘.”
“It is not surprising, therefore, that neither a common Jew nor a Rabbi usually has a correct idea of the religion of Christ: nourished only by hatred towards his Redeemer, buried in temporal affairs, greedy for gold and power, he does not even imagine how much peace and how much happiness the faithful, ardent, and generous love for the Crucified offers even on this earth!”
III. The Deicide and the Fall of Jewry
Rycerz Niepokalanej (1936–1939 issues)
(English translation by Konstanty Gebert, founding editor of Midrasz*)*
“Since Jewry’s most horrible crime against God, i.e., the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, Jewry has been falling ever lower.”
IV. Supersessionism: The Fulfilment of the Old Law
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 1, January 1926 — “The Poor Ones”
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 252–258)
“God always exists: in the past, in the present and in the future. In time, He called spiritual beings, endowed with reason and free will, from nothingness into existence. … God also created a being made of flesh: to him too He gave a soul endowed with reason and free will. He also offered him a period of probation. The proud spirit, with God’s permission and out of envy for the happiness of this being, suggested to him that with his own strength ‘he would become like God’ [cf. Gen. III, 5]. Man allowed himself to be deceived, the mania of pride generated disobedience.”
“Who, then, is capable of offering divine justice adequate satisfaction? The magnitude of an offense is measured by the dignity of the one who has been offended, namely, the infinite God. No finite creature, therefore, nor even all creatures together, are capable of offering infinite satisfaction. God, and only the infinite God, can satisfy infinitely. And something inconceivable happens. God humbles himself to his creatures, becoming man to redeem them and to teach them humility, silence, obedience, and truth.”
“So that men might recognize him, he chose a man, Abraham, and surrounded his descendants with special protection; so that they would not lose faith in the true God, he raised up prophets among them, who foretold the time of His coming, the location, and the details of His life, death, and resurrection. He came to a poor stable, took up residence in a poor little house, remained submissive in humility for thirty years, taught a way of life, kindly welcomed sinners who did penance, rebuked the hypocritical Pharisees and finally was hung on the tree of the cross, thus fulfilling the prophecies.”
V. The Jewish Leadership of Bolshevism, Socialism, and Theosophy
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 1, January 1923 — “Imminent Danger” (Grożące niebezpieczeństwo)
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 51–54)
“Furthermore, it is well known to all that it is the Jews who lead Bolshevik rule. They are not lacking even among the ranks of the materialist leaders of socialism and those currently governing Russia. The ‘scholars of the Holy Scriptures,’ then, as Mr. Pawlak demonstrated in a lecture to the Men’s Circle of the Mission Immaculata (MI), are nothing but a disguised Bolshevism with all the premises of the Talmudists.”
“Even in theosophy, Jews make an abundant appearance, so much so that, for example, in Vienna the directors of the theosophical lodges are Jews: Hans Schiff, Dr. Hans Robiczek, Gerstl, Schleisinger, Hirsch, and even the female directors are Jewish: Paola Schiff, Singer-Schiffowa, Miss Berta Mendelssohn, Miss Stella Abramowicz, Miss Anna Wertheimers.”
“The force that has ceased to even hide is the Jewish-Masonic conspiracy.”
“Throughout the earth, a struggle against the Church and the happiness of souls rages, on some sides more feebly, on others more fiercely. The enemy manifests itself in various guises and under various names. Everyone knows how socialism, taking advantage of the miserable conditions of the worker, has inoculated him with the poison of unbelief. We see how the Bolsheviks persecute religion. We listen to the teachings of the materialists, who wish to restrict the universe only to what we immediately know through the senses, in order to convince themselves and others that neither God nor the soul exists. Theosophy inculcates religious indifference, while ‘scholars of Holy Scripture’ and other Protestants buy the sympathy of believers with large sums of dollars. All these blocs, they form a united battlefront against the Church.”
VI. The Jews as the Secret Chiefs of Freemasonry
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 1, January 1926 — “The Poor Ones”
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 252–258)
“The Freemasons are nothing but an organized clique of fanatical Jews, who aim, in an unreasonable manner, to destroy the Catholic Church, which the God-Man himself has assured that the gates of hell will not be able to overcome [cf. Matt. XVI, 18]. Poor, madmen, they are going to bang their heads against a rock!”
Lecture: “The Actual Nemesis of the Church” (Kraków, Autumn 1922)
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 599–606)
“These leaders are those called ‘blue Masons,’ whilst so-called ‘red masonry’ is reserved to a very small number of people, mostly Jews, who, fully aware of the goals, direct all the great mass of those who are more or less ‘enlightened’ in the things of the Masonic organization. These leaders stay in the shadows and they always act secretly, making opposition impossible. They are the ones who plan the advance of the work. Out of their ‘workshops’ came the French Revolution, the whole series of revolutions from 1789 to 1815, and also… the World War.”
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 9, September 1926 — “The Fools” (Okpieni)
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 293–300)
“Have you heard, gentlemen Masons? Those who organized you and secretly govern you, the Jews, they consider you to be beasts, lured into Masonic lodges for purposes you do not even suspect, to pull the wool over the eyes of the goyim.”
“‘The people who most willingly join secret societies are usually career swindlers and generally reckless people, with whom it will not be difficult for us to conduct business. They will set in motion the mechanism of the machine we have invented. … It is natural that we, and not anyone else, will direct the affairs and activities of Freemasonry, because we know where we are leading, we know the ultimate goal of each action, whereas they do not know where, they do not even know the immediate results: they are usually concerned only with the momentary satisfaction of their ambition in carrying out projects. They do not know that the project itself was not born of their initiative, but thanks to our submission of the appropriate thought.'”
(Kolbe here quotes and endorses Protocol 15 as documentary evidence of Jewish direction of Masonry.)
“Gentlemen Masons, you who recently rejoiced at the Congress in Bucharest that Freemasonry is developing, think about it and say honestly, is it not better to serve the Creator in inner peace, in joyful love, than to obey the orders of the mysterious, insidious, unknown, cruel Jewish clique that hates you?”
VII. Anti-Zionism: The Protocols and the Programme of World Domination
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 9, September 1926 — “The Fools”
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 293–300)
“These gentlemen think they rule; meanwhile, let’s listen to what the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ write. Protocol 11 says: ‘This is the program of the new constitution being prepared. We will create and execute laws and governments: 1) in the form of projects submitted to the legislative body, 2) with the help of presidential decrees in the form of general provisions, senate rulings, resolutions of the state council, ministerial decisions, 3) and at the appropriate moment — in the form of a coup d’état.'”
“‘The goyim are a flock of sheep, and we are wolves to them, and you know what happens to sheep when wolves sneak into the fold. They will close their eyes even more because we promise to return all their freedoms after we have defeated the enemies of peace and defeated all parties. Is it worth mentioning how long they will wait for this return?'”
(Kolbe quotes Protocol 11.)
“‘For what other purpose did we devise and impose this entire policy on the goyim, without giving them the opportunity to examine its content? If not to achieve by a roundabout route what is simply inaccessible to our scattered tribe? This served as the foundation for our organization of secret Freemasonry, which is unknown, and for purposes whose existence these goyim — the goyim — who we lure into the ranks of the army of “show” Masonic lodges, existing to pull the wool over the goyim’s eyes.'”
(Kolbe quotes Protocol 11.)
“‘We will submit all lodges to a single board, known only to us, composed of our wise men. The lodges will have a representative who will mask this central board of Freemasonry and announce slogans and programs. In these lodges, we will forge a bond with all revolutionary and freethinking elements. … The most secret political projects will be known to us and subject to our leadership from the moment of their founding.'”
(Kolbe quotes Protocol 15.)
“‘Death is the inevitable end of every life. It is better to hasten the end of those who hinder our cause than of us who are its creators.’ ‘We will execute Masons in such a way that no one, except the brothers, will be able to guess, not even the victims themselves: they all die at the moment when it is necessary, apparently from normal diseases.'”
(Kolbe quotes Protocol 15.)
“‘The goyim join lodges, some driven by curiosity or the hope of gaining a share in the social pie, others to gain the opportunity to publicly express their unattainable and baseless dreams. These long for applause and the emotion that success brings, and which we do not spare them. … Thanks to us, they have mounted the horse of dreams about the absorption of human individuality by the symbolic unit of collectivism. … If we were able to drive them to such mad blindness, does this not demonstrate with astonishing clarity the extent to which the mind of the goyim is not humanly developed compared to ours! This circumstance is for us the main guarantee of success.'”
(Kolbe quotes Protocol 15.)
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 4, April 1924 — “Does the Truth Change?”
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 117–120)
“Not even all Jews know that the founders of Zionism were interested in world domination. Serious evidence of this is provided by ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.'”
(Footnote 5 of the article.)
Militia Immaculatae Calendar, edition of one million (1939)
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 548–550)
“Atheistic Communism seems to rage ever more wildly. Its origin can easily be located in that criminal mafia that calls itself Freemasonry, and the hand that is guiding all that toward a clear goal is international Zionism.”
VIII. Direct Address to the “Learned Elders of Zion”
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 9, September 1926 — “The Fools”
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 293–300)
“And to you, the small handful of Jews, the ‘wise men of Zion,’ who, hidden by God’s permission, for the testing of the faithful and virtuous, have consciously caused so many misfortunes and are preparing even more, I turn with a question: What will come of this? Even supposing that the foretold moments of the Antichrist‘s reign are near, that you prepare the way for him, let each of you ask yourself: What will come of this?… Piles of gold, joy, pleasures, power — all this still doesn’t make a person happy. And even if it did bring happiness, how long will it last? Several dozen years, or perhaps a dozen, a few, or even less… We don’t know when the cycle of life will break… And then?… Would it not be better for you Polish Masons, deceived by a handful of Jews, and for you Jewish leaders who have allowed yourselves to be seduced by the enemy of humanity, Satan, to turn sincerely to God, to acknowledge the Savior Jesus Christ, to love the Immaculate and, under her banners, to win souls for Her?… Do you prefer to belong to that head of the serpent entwining the world, about which it was said, ‘She will crush your head’? While you are alive there is still time, but soon it may be too late!!!…”
IX. The Judaized Character of Polish Cultural and Political Life
Rycerz Niepokalanej (1936–1939 issues)
(English translation by Konstanty Gebert)
“Judaized organizations and Judaized political parties which had subverted people’s faith and robbed the young of shame.”
X. The Missionary Goal: Conversion of the Jews
Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 1, January 1926 — “The Poor Ones”
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 252–258)
“Let every member of the Militia recite attentively and fervently our short prayer: ‘O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee… and for all those who do not have recourse to thee…, especially for the Freemasons…’, since the Freemasons are nothing but an organized clique of fanatical Jews, who aim, in an unreasonable manner, to destroy the Catholic Church.”
“When one of us meets a Jew, let us address a brief prayer to the Immaculate for his conversion, even if only mentally, for example: ‘Jesus, Mary’; while if we happen to meet a Rabbi, who has a greater responsibility, since he must answer to God for himself and for those he leads, we should offer a more intense prayer, perhaps a ‘Hail Mary’.”
“Let us remember well that Jesus died for each one of us, regardless of nationality, and that each one of us, including every Jew, is ungrateful, yet is also a child of our common heavenly Mother. Let us devote ourselves to prayer (especially the recitation of the Rosary), to mortification (of sight, hearing, taste, and will), to good example, and, if prudence permits, to wholesome conversation, but above all to a prudent diffusion of the Miraculous Medal, even among the lost children of Israel. Let us strive to lead them to the knowledge of the truth and to the attainment of true peace and happiness, through unlimited consecration to our common Lady and Queen.”
Missionary conference notes (c. 1930s)
(Gli Scritti; confirmed by Green & Schlafly, NYRB, 14 April 1983)
“To seek the conversion of sinners, heretics, schismatics, Jews, etc., and, especially, Masons.”
XI. The Freemasonic War on the Supernatural Order
Lecture: “The Actual Nemesis of the Church” (Kraków, Autumn 1922)
(Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 599–606)
“Only after these advance guards comes the bulk of the enemy’s army. And who is he? At first glance it might seem exaggerated to affirm that the principal, the greatest and most powerful enemy of the Church is Freemasonry.”
“Freemasonry, organized by English freethinkers in London in 1717, had already set itself a clear goal six years later in its General Constitutions, which no one is permitted to change. ‘Each of the grand lodges — affirmed therein — has the right to improve upon previous prescriptions and establish new ones, but not to modify the fundamental points, which must remain fixed forever and be implemented promptly.’ What are these fundamental points? Behold: the total liquidation of the supernatural world.”
“Art, literature and the periodical press, theaters, cinemas, the education of youth and legislation are moving rapidly toward the elimination of the supernatural world.”
“‘We will not conquer the Church with reasoning,’ the Masons decided at one of their gatherings, ‘but by corrupting morals.'”
Sources
All passages are drawn from, or independently confirmed against, the following primary and critical editions. Translations are those of the sources listed under each entry. No word has been altered.
Primary Critical Edition:
- Gli Scritti di Massimiliano Kolbe, Eroe di Osiecim e Beato della Chiesa, 3 vols. (Florence: Edizioni Città di Vita, 1975–1978). The complete critical edition of Kolbe’s writings. Identified as such by Daniel L. Schlafly Jr. and Warren Green, “Kolbe & Anti-Semitism,” The New York Review of Books, 14 April 1983. Available in specialized research libraries; vol. III accessed directly by The Journal of American Reform for the translations used here.
- Rycerz Niepokalanej (Knight of the Immaculate), digitized archive: https://archiwum.rycerzniepokalanej.pl
Secondary Sources and Translations Used:
- Tradition in Action — “Maximilian Kolbe to the Masons: You Are Controlled by the Jews.” Originally published in Cabildo (Buenos Aires), September 2009; translated from Spanish into English by the TIA desk. Contains translations of the “The Poor Ones” Talmud passages and the 1926 Bucharest Congress article. https://www.traditioninaction.org/History/G_010_Kobe_Jewsl.html
- The Journal of American Reform — “The Talmudic Character of Judaism — Kolbe, 1926.” Full English translation of “Biedni” (“The Poor Ones”), Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 1, January 1926, pp. 2–7; Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 252–258. https://americanreform.substack.com/p/the-talmudic-character-of-judaism
- The Journal of American Reform — “The Goyim and the ‘Protocols’ — Kolbe, 1926.” Full English translation of “Okpieni” (“The Fools”), Rycerz Niepokalanej, Issue No. 9, September 1926, p. 258; Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 293–300. https://americanreform.substack.com/p/the-goyim-and-the-protocols-kolbe
- The Journal of American Reform — “On Freemasonry, the Immutability of Truth and the Actual Nemesis of the Church — Kolbe, 1920s.” Full English translations of: (1) “Grożące niebezpieczeństwo” (“Imminent Danger”), Rycerz Niepokalanej, No. 1, January 1923, pp. 2–4; Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 51–54; (2) “Czy prawda się zmienia?” (“Does the Truth Change?”), Rycerz Niepokalanej, No. 4, April 1924, pp. 55–57; Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 117–120; (3) Lecture, “The Actual Nemesis of the Church,” Kraków, Autumn 1922; Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 599–606. https://americanreform.substack.com/p/on-freemasonry-the-immutability-of
- 1939 Militia Immaculatae Calendar — Cited in Wikipedia, “Maximilian Kolbe,” sourced to Gli Scritti, vol. III, pp. 548–550; independently confirmed by Green & Schlafly, NYRB, 14 April 1983. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe
- 1936–1939 Rycerz Niepokalanej citations — English translations by Konstanty Gebert (founding editor, Midrasz), as reported in EWTN: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/retractions-but-no-correction-6029
- Confirmation of key phrases in Gli Scritti — Daniel L. Schlafly Jr. and Warren Green, “Kolbe & Anti-Semitism,” The New York Review of Books, 14 April 1983. Independently confirms the phrases “Jewish-Masonic conspiracy,” “cruel clique of Jews,” and “their work (the Talmud) which breathes hatred against Christ and the Christians” as present in Gli Scritti. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1983/04/14/kolbe-anti-semitism-2/