Władysław Bartoszewski – a meeting in Kraków
This event is part of the Bayit Hadash Month of Encounters with Jewish Culture organized by the Center for Jewish Culture in Cracow, and will be held at the Center, 17 Meiselsa Street in the Kraków district of Kazimierz.
Prof. Bartoszewski was prisoner of Auschwitz. He was transported there on September 22nd, 1940 with 5500 other inmates He received the number 4427. He was released from the camp on April 8th, 1941 thanks to the efforts undertaken by the Polish Red Cross.
After being released from Auschwitz, Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski became a soldier of the Home Army. He was a member of the Council to Aid Jews “Żegota”, took part in organizing help for the participants 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.
As a politician and diplomat, he had many important and responsible functions, he was, among others, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Józef Oleksy. To this day he remains active in politics – currently he is Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.
He received numerous awards and distinctions, among them the Order of the White Eagle (1995). On December 14th, 1965 the Yad Vashem Institute honored Władysław Bartoszewski with the title of the Righteous Among the Nations for his merits for saving Jews during the Second World War.
He is chairman of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites and of the International Auschwitz Council. 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”).
The full program of the next Month of Encounters with Jewish Culture organized by the Center for Jewish Culture can be found on the website of the Judaica Foundation – Center for Jewish Culture.
