Władysław Bartoszewski received the Elie Wiesel award

, 16 November 2016
Last Sunday, April 28th, 2013, which marked the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the USHMM, Władysław Bartoszewski was conferred the Elie Wiesel medal, which is the highest award of the Washington Museum. The ceremony was attended by the Polish Minister of Culture Bogdan Zdrojewski.

Due to health problems, Prof. Bartoszewski was not able to take part in the ceremony in person, but a video of his speech was shown to all present at the ceremony, including the Museum’s friends, WWII veterans, Holocaust survivors and Members of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Władysław Bartoszewski highlighted that the medal was special to him because “it bears the name of Elie Wiesel, the Nobel prize Winner who devoted most of his life to spreading the truth in an extraordinary way. Similarly, the Washington Holocaust Memorial Museum has been showing the truth for twenty years”.

The Elie Wiesel award is the most prestigious decoration given by the USHMM. It was named after the  1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Elie Wiesel, an American writer, journalist, philosopher and political activist with a Hungarian-Jewish ancestry, who spent his life researching and commemorating the Holocaust. He also initiated and headed the foundation council of the museum.

Władysław Bartoszewski was born on February 19th, 1922. He is a former Auschwitz prisoner, a politician, publicist and writer. Presently, Bartoszewski is a Secretary of State in Donald Tusk’s government and Polish Prime Minister’s Plenipotentiary for International Dialogue. In 1995, Bartoszewski was awarded the Order of the White Eagle.  In recognition of his aid and support for Jews during the Nazi occupation, the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem has given him the Title of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Source: PAP