Józef Kowalski (13 March 1911 – 4 July 1942) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest from the Salesian Society murdered at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.

Józef Kowalski was born in Siedliska (partitioned Poland) on 13 March 1911 to Wojciech and Zofia Borowiec, the seventh of their nine children.

[4][5] There, he ministered secretly to his fellow prisoners in Block 25, and attempted to strengthen their will to survive day-to-day life in the camp.

During one of his return visits to Poland, John Paul II beatified Kowalski in Warsaw at a ceremonial three-hour mass of 13 June 1999, attended by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski,[1][4] in front of 600,000 people.

[1] Kowalski was one of 108 Polish Martyrs from World War II beatified by the Pope on that day.