Description

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.

Publisher Review

‘In this beautiful chronicle stretching across a whole century and between continents, Naoko Abe reminds us of how human interconnections and inspirations help us rise above the terrors and divisions of war.’ * Bill Emmott, writer and chairman of the Japan Society of the UK * ‘Naoko Abe reminds us that despite humanity’s brutality, hope endures in the simplest of messages: stop killing, renounce war and never forget love. ‘ * Lucy Moore, author of In Search of Us * ‘Vivid, absorbing, and compelling’ * Catherine Coldstream, author of Cloistered: My Years as a Nun * ‘a rich and inventive biography ..a compelling and unexpectedly positive account of a century of spiritual, cultural and political links between East and West.’ * Michael Arditti *