Book Launch: The Martyr and the Red Kimono

On 14th August 1941, a Polish priest named Maximilian Kolbe was murdered in Auschwitz.

Kolbe had spent six years in Nagasaki before the war. A Polish nationalist and influential religious leader, he ran Poland’s largest publishing operation, drawing the wrath of the Nazis. After Germany invaded Poland, he gave sanctuary to fleeing refugees and was arrested by the Gestapo. In Auschwitz, he volunteered to die, saving the life of a fellow prisoner.

This act transformed the lives of two Japanese men. Tōmei Ozaki became an orphan when the US dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Masatoshi Asari worked on a farm in Hokkaido during the war and was haunted by the inhumane acts of the Japanese military.

Both men drew inspiration from Kolbe’s sacrifice, dedicating their lives to humanity and justice. Ozaki became a friar and visited Auschwitz ten times. Asari became the world’s leading cherry-tree creator and sent thousands of cherries to the UK, China, Korea and Poland as peace offerings.

In The Martyr and the Red Kimono, award-winning author Naoko Abe weaves together a deeply moving and uplifting true story of resistance, sacrifice, guilt and atonement.
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[jimmygrieves]

I am currently reading your book Naoko and am enjoying it very much !