„On both sides of the wall”

Maria Zawadzka, 16 November 2016
On October 13th, 2010 at 6 pm at the seat of “Gazeta Wyborcza” in Warsaw (8/10 Czerska Street) will take place a meeting entitled „On both sides of the wall”, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Warsaw Ghetto. This event is organized on the initiative of the Polish Scientific Publishers PWN and the Club “Gazeta’s Guests”. The meeting will be connected with the premiere of the book by Władysław Bartoszewski and Marek Edelman „I była dzielnica żydowska w Warszawie” (“And There was the Jewish District in Warsaw”). Szymon Bobrowski, actor, will read excerpts of the book. Władysław Bartoszewski will be the special guest of this meeting, moderated by Jarosław Kurski.

The book“And There was the Jewish District in Warsaw” contains, among others, the record of a conversation that took place between Władysław Bartoszewski and Marek Edelman in April 1960, during a walk in area where the Warsaw Ghetto was once located. It also comprises the account “Getto walczy” (“The Ghetto is Fighting”) by Marek Edelman, and the publication of Władysław Bartoszewski “Żydzi Warszawy 1939-1943” (“Jews of Warsaw 1939-1943”), describing the creation of ghettos, everyday life in the Warsaw Ghetto and an account of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, together with numerous details and documents. Therefore, the work “And There was the Jewish District in Warsaw” is a personal account of events presented to the reader from two different perspectives: of a fighter from the Ghetto and of an observer from the other side of the wall, engaged in providing help for the Jews.

Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski – prisoner of the Auschwitz camp, soldier of the Home Army, member of the Council to Aid Jews “Żegota”. He took part in organizing help for the fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and participated in the Warsaw Uprising. During the Polish People’s Republic he was imprisoned and repressed. He played an important part in the creation of a democratic opposition in Poland, he was a member of the “Solidarity”. He contributed on a large scale to the Polish-German reconciliation process, he also always attached great importance to the Polish-Jewish relations. He received numerous awards and distinctions. On December 14th, 1965 the Yad Vashem Institute honored Władysław Bartoszewski with the title of the Righteous Among the Nations. In 1995 he received the Order of the White Eagle. Together with Zofia Lewinówna, he has written down the stories of rescue and help given to Jews by the Poles during the Nazi occupation – the figures of the Poles who saved Jews during the Second World War have been presented in the book „Ten jest z Ojczyzny mojej. Polacy z pomocą Żydom 1939-1945” (“Righteous Among Nations: How Poles Helped the Jews 1939-1945”).

Marek Edelman– political and social activist, cardiologist, one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, participant of the Warsaw Uprising, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. In his youth he was member of Socjalistiszer Kinder-Farband, a youth organization being part of the Bund. In 1939 he became a member of the Socialist Youth Association “Future” (Cukunft). During the Second World War he joined the General Jewish Labour Bund, and in 1942 he was among the founders of the Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB). After the death of Mordechaj Anielewicz, he became the last leader of the ŻOB fighters during the uprising. After the war, he did not leave Poland and from 1946 he had been living in Łódź. For the last two years of his life he lived in Warsaw. He died on October 2nd, 2009 in Warsaw.