Władysław Bartoszewski (; 19 February 1922 – 24 April 2015) was a Polish professor of History, politician, social activist, journalist, writer, historian and insurgent. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of the Polish underground and participated in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war he was persecuted and imprisoned by the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) of the Polish People's Republic regime due to his membership in the Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK) and opposition activity.

After the Revolutions of 1989, Bartoszewski served twice as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of democratic Poland from March through December 1995 and again from 2000 to 2001.

World War II

In September 1939, Bartoszewski took part in the civil defense of Warsaw as a stretcher-bearer. From 22 September 1940, he was detained in Auschwitz concentration camp (his inmate number was 4427). Due to actions undertaken by the Polish Red Cross, he was released from Auschwitz on 8 April 1941.

In August 1942, Bartoszewski became a soldier of the Home Army, working as a reporter in the "P" Subdivision of the Information Department of its Information and Propaganda Bureau.

From November 1942 to September 1943, Bartoszewski was an editorial team secretary of the Catholic magazine Prawda (The Truth), the press organ of the Front for the Rebirth of Poland. In November 1958, Bartoszewski was again accepted by the Linguistic Department of Warsaw University, in extramural mode. He submitted his master's thesis written under the supervision of professor Julian Krzyżanowski.

From November to December 1963, Bartoszewski lived in Austria, where he entered into communication with Austrian intellectual and political societies. After announcing martial law on 13 December 1981, he was a detainee in Białołęka prison and later in the Internment Center in Jaworze at Drawsko Pomorskie Military Training Area. He was released on 28 April 1982 due to the support from intellectual communities from Poland and from abroad.

Third Republic of Poland

Diplomatic and political activity

From September 1990 to March 1995, Bartoszewski held the position of Ambassador of the Polish Republic to Austria.

Starting in June 2001, Bartoszewski was the leader of the Council for the Protection of Memory of Combat and Martyrdom. On 27 January 2005, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, he delivered speeches as the representative of the Polish inmates of concentration camps.

Bartoszewski's scholarly credentials were controversial. He had no university degree but used the title of "professor", suggesting that he had an academic degree. Despite his lack of formal academic qualifications, Bartoszewski taught graduate-level history courses at several accredited and prestigious universities, including the renowned KUL (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin), which lists Bartoszewski as a reader in modern history (and chair of Polish Postwar History) in the Faculty of Humanities, 1973–1985, and awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2008. From April 2009 he was a council member of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.

Personal life

Władysław Bartoszewski was first married to Antonina Mijal, but that marriage ended in divorce. His son, Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, was born in 1955. Flags at the parliament were lowered to half-staff in Bartoszewski's honor. Bartoszewski was survived by wife Zofia and son Władysław Teofil.

Publications

English

  • 1968 Warsaw Death Ring: 1939–1944, Interpres.
  • 1969 Righteous Among Nations: How Poles Helped the Jews 1939–1945, ed. with Zofia Lewin, Earlscourt Pub, UK;, .
  • 1970 The Samaritans: Heroes of the Holocaust, ed. with Zofia Lewin, Twayne Publishers, New York.
  • 1988 The Warsaw Ghetto: A Christian's Testimony, Beacon Press; .
  • 1991 The Jews in Warsaw: A History, ed. with Antony Polonsky, Blackwell Publishing; .

Polish

  • Konspiracyjne Varsaviana poetyckie 1939–1944: zarys informacyjny (Warsaw 1962)
  • Organizacja małego sabotażu "Wawer" w Warszawie (1940–1944) (1966)
  • Ten jest z Ojczyzny mojej. Polacy z pomocą Żydom 1939–1945 (oprac. wspólnie z Zofią Lewinówną; Znak 1967, 1969)
  • Warszawski pierścień śmierci 1939–1944 (1967, 1970; ponadto wydania w języku angielskim 1968 i niemieckim 1970)
  • Kronika wydarzeń w Warszawie 1939–1949 (oprac.; wespół z Bogdanem Brzezińskim i Leszkiem Moczulskim; Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe 1970)
  • Ludność cywilna w Powstaniu Warszawskim. Prasa, druki ulotne i inne publikacje powstańcze t. I-III (oprac.; praca zbiorowa; Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1974)
  • 1859 dni Warszawy (introduction by Aleksander Gieysztor; bibliography of W. Bartoszewski by Zofia Steczowicz-Sajderowa; index by Zofia Bartoszewska; Znak 1974; 2nd edition expanded: 1984, )
  • Polskie Państwo Podziemne (inauguracyjny wykład TKN wygłoszony w Warszawie 2 XI 1979; II obieg; Niezależna Oficyna Wydawnicza NOWa 1979, 1980; OW "Solidarność" MKZ, Wrocław 1981; Komitet Wyzwolenia Społecznego 1981; Agencja Informacyjna Solidarności Walczącej, Lublin 1985)
  • Los Żydów Warszawy 1939–1943. W czterdziestą rocznicę powstania w getcie warszawskim (Puls, Londyn 1983; Bez Cięć 1985 [II obieg]; Międzyzakładowa Struktura "Solidarności" 1985 [II obieg]; wydanie 2 poprawione i rozszerzone: Puls 1988, ; Fakt, Łódź 1989 [II obieg])
  • Jesień nadziei: warto być przyzwoitym (II obieg; tł. z wydania zach.-niem.; posłowie Reinholda Lehmanna; [Lublin]: Spotkania 1984, 1986)
  • Dni walczącej stolicy. Kronika Powstania Warszawskiego (Aneks, Londyn 1984; Krąg, Warsaw 1984 [II obieg]; Alfa 1989, ; Świat Książki 2004, )
  • Metody i praktyki Bezpieki w pierwszym dziesięcioleciu PRL (pod pseud. Jan Kowalski; II obieg; Grupy Polityczne "Wola", Ogólnopolski Komitet Oporu Robotników "Solidarność" 1985; Biuletyn Łódzki 1985; Apel 1986; Rota 1986)
  • Syndykat zbrodni (pod pseudonimem "ZZZ"; 1986)
  • Na drodze do niepodległości (Editions Spotkania, Paryż 1987, )
  • Warto być przyzwoitym. szkic do pamiętnika (II obieg; CDN 1988)
  • Warto być przyzwoitym. Teksty osobiste i nieosobiste (Polskie tłumaczenie książki pt.: Herbst der Hoffnungen: es lohnt sich, anständig zu sein; Wydawnictwo Polskiej Prowincji Dominikanów W drodze 1990, ; wydanie 2 zmienione: 2005, )
  • Ponad podziałami. Wybrane przemówienia i wywiady – lipiec-grudzień 2000 (Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych 2001, )
  • Wspólna europejska odpowiedzialność. Wybrane przemówienia i wywiady, styczeń-lipiec 2001 (Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych 2001, )
  • Moja Jerozolima, mój Izrael. Władysław Bartoszewski w rozmowie z Joanną Szwedowską (posłowie: Andrzej Paczkowski; Rosner i Wspólnicy 2005, )
  • Władysław Bartoszewski: wywiad-rzeka (rozmowy z Michałem Komarem; Świat Książki 2006, )
  • Dziennik z internowania. Jaworze 15 December 1981 – 19 April 1982 (Świat Książki 2006)
  • Pisma wybrane 1942–1957, Tom I (Universitas 2007, )

German

  • Die polnische Untergrundpresse in den Jahren 1939 bis 1945 (Druckerei und Verlagsanstalt, Konstanz 1967)
  • Das Warschauer Ghetto wie es wirklich war. Zeugenbericht eines Christen (1983; also American and English edition)
  • Herbst der Hoffnungen: Es lohnt sich, anständig zu sein (Herder 1983; ; 1984, ; 1986, )
  • Aus der Geschichte lernen? Aufsätze und Reden zur Kriegs- und Nachkriegsgeschichte Polens (foreword: Stanisław Lem; Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1986)
  • Uns eint vergossenes Blut. Juden und Polen in der Zeit der Endlösung (1987)
  • Polen und Juden in der Zeit der "Endlösung" (Informationszentrum im Dienste der christlich-jüdischen Verständigung, Vienna 1990; )
  • Kein Frieden ohne Freiheit. Betrachtungen eines Zeitzeugen am Ende des Jahrhunderts (2000)
  • Und reiß uns den Hass aus der Seele (Deutsch-Polnischer Verlag 2005; )

Awards and honors

:1944: Silver Cross of Merit with Swords and the Cross of Valor

:1963: Knight's Cross of the Polonia Restituta

:1995: Knight of the Order of the White Eagle

:1996: Heinrich Heine Prize of the city of Düsseldorf

:1997: Grand Cross with Star of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

:June 2007: International Adalbert Prize in Bratislava

:2015: Honorary citizen of Israel

References

The article was originally a translation of its Polish version (Władysław Bartoszewski), with additions from the German version.

  • Władysław Bartoszewski – Blog
  • Address by the former Foreign Minister of Poland Wladislaw Bartoszewski at the ceremony of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, 27 January 2005 see page 156, 157
  • Władysław Bartoszewski – Interviews about Polish-Jewish relations
  • About Władysław Bartoszewski at Yad Vashem website
  • Audio recordings with Władysław Bartoszewski in the Online Archive of the Österreichische Mediathek (Interviews and lectures in German). Retrieved 18 September 2019