Maximilian Kolbe was born on January 8th in 1894 in Wola, Warsaw. Kolbe was the second of four sons, with no sisters. His parent’s were Julius Kolbe and Maria Dabrowska. Kolbe's father was German and his mother was polish. Maximilian had four brothers, there names were Francis, Joseph, Walenty and Andrew. Unfortunately two of his brother Walenty died before they reached the age of five. Maximilian’s family then moved to Pabianice and there his parents worked as basket weavers. His mother later became a midwife and his father worked on some rented land where he grew crops. Kolbe was surprisingly a troublesome boy and his mother often pondered what would become of him.