The remarkable true story of Saint Maximilian Kolbe and the two men in war-torn Japan whose
lives he changed forever. On the 14th of August 1941 a Polish priest named Maximilian Maria
Kolbe was murdered in Auschwitz. Kolbe's life had been remarkable. Fiercely intelligent and
driven he founded a movement of Catholicism and spent several years in Nagasaki ministering
to the 'hidden Christians' who had emerged after centuries of oppression. A Polish nationalist
as well as a priest he gave sanctuary to fleeing refugees and ran Poland's largest publishing
operation drawing the wrath of the Nazis. His death was no less remarkable: he volunteered to
die saving the life of a fellow prisoner. It was an act that profoundly transformed the lives
of two Japanese men. Tomei Ozaki was just seventeen when the US dropped an atomic bomb on
Nagasaki destroying his home and his family. Masatoshi Asari worked on a farm in Hokkaido
during the war and was haunted by the inhumane treatment of prisoners in a nearby camp. Forged
in the crucible of an unforgiving war both men drew inspiration from Kolbe's sacrifice
dedicating their lives to humanity and justice. Ozaki followed in his footsteps and became a
friar. Asari created cherry trees as peace offerings. In The Martyr and the Red Kimono
award-winning author Naoko Abe weaves together a deeply moving and inspirational true story of
resistance sacrifice guilt and atonement.
