Franciszek Gajowniczek (15 November 1901 – 13 March 1995)[2][3] was a Polish army sergeant whose life was saved at Auschwitz by priest Maximilian Kolbe, who volunteered to die in his place.[2] Gajowniczek had been sent to Auschwitz concentration camp from Gestapo prison in Tarnów. He was captured while crossing the border into Slovakia after the defeat of the Modlin Fortress during the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. Gajowniczek and Kolbe met as inmates of Auschwitz in May 1941.[2]