Władysław Bartoszewski
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| Władysław Bartoszewski | |
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Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
3rd Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Third Republic |
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| In office March 7, 1995 – December 22, 1995 |
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| President | Lech Wałęsa |
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| Prime Minister | Józef Oleksy |
| Preceded by | Andrzej Olechowski |
| Succeeded by | Dariusz Rosati |
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Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
6th Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Third Republic |
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| In office June 30, 2000 – October 19, 2001 |
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| President | Aleksander Kwaśniewski |
| Prime Minister | Jerzy Buzek |
| Preceded by | Bronisław Geremek |
| Succeeded by | Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz |
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| Born | February 19, 1922 Warsaw, Poland |
| Spouse | Zofia Bartoszewska |
| Occupation | politician, social activist, journalist, writer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Władysław Bartoszewski (pronounced [vwaˈdɨswaf bartɔˈʃɛfskʲi]; born February 19, 1922 in Warsaw) – Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer, historian, Auschwitz concentration camp inmate, soldier of Armia Krajowa (the Home Army, a Polish resistance organization during World War II), Polish underground activist, participant of the Warsaw Uprising, twice nominated for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, chevalier of the Order of the White Eagle, honorary citizen of Israel.
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[edit] Education
Bartoszewski studied at Saint Stanislaw Kostka Secondary School. In 1939 he graduated from The Humanist High School of the Future Educational Society in Warsaw.
From October 1941 until 1944 Bartoszewski studied Polish Studies in the secret Humanist Department of Warsaw University. Although he was accepted into the third year of Polish Studies at Warsaw University in December 1948, Bartoszewski's arrest in 1949, and the resultant five years' imprisonment, rendered him unable to finish his studies.
In November 1958 he 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; however, by decision of the vice-chancellor, he was expelled from the university in October 1962.
Bartoszewski was visiting professor in Munich, Eichstätt and Augsburg, where he taught and lectured between 1983 and 1990.
[edit] Activity
[edit] World War II and occupation
In September 1939, Bartoszewski took part in the civil defense of Warsaw as a stretcher-bearer. From May 1940, he worked in the first social clinic of the Polish Red Cross in Warsaw.
[edit] Concentration camp in Auschwitz
On 19th September 1940, Bartoszewski was detained in the Warsaw district of Zoliborz during a massive Nazi manhunt. From 22nd September 1940, he was an Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner (his inmate number was 4427). He was released from Auschwitz on 8th April 1941 due to actions undertaken by the Polish Red Cross.
[edit] Polish Underground
After his release from Auschwitz, Bartoszewski contacted the Association of Armed Struggle (Związek Walki Zbrojnej). In the summer of 1941, he reported on his concentration camp imprisonment to the Information Department of the Information and Propaganda Bureau of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa, or AK, a reformed version of the Association of Armed Struggle and the largest resistance movement in Poland). In summer 1942, he joined the Front for the Rebirth of Poland (Front Odrodzenia Polski) – a secret, Catholic, social-educational and charity organization founded by Zofia Kossak.
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. His pseudonym “Teofil” was inspired by Teofil Grodzicki - a fictional character from Jan Parandowski’s novel entitled The Sky in Flames. He cooperated with Kazimierz Moczarski in the two-man P-1 report of the "P" subdivision.
From September 1942, Bartoszewski was active on behalf of the Front for the Rebirth of Poland in the Provisional Committee for Aid to Jews and its successor organization, the Council for Aid to Jews (codenamed Żegota). Żegota, a Polish World War II resistance organization whose objective was to help Jews during the Holocaust, operated under the auspices of the Polish Government in Exile through the Delegatura, its presence in Warsaw. Bartoszewski remained a member of Żegota until the Warsaw Uprising. In 1943, he replaced Witold Bieńkowski in the Jewish Department of the Delegatura.[1]
From November 1942 to September 1943, Bartoszewski was an editorial team secretary of the Catholic magazine The Truth (Prawda), the press organ of the Front for the Rebirth of Poland. From fall of 1942 until spring of 1944, Bartoszewski was the editor-in-chief of the Catholic magazine Prawda Młodych, which was also connected with the Front for the Rebirth of Poland and was addressed to university and high-school students.
In November 1942, Bartoszewski became a vice-manager of a division created in the Department of Internal Affairs of the Delegatura whose remit was to help prisoners of Pawiak. In February 1943, Bartoszewski begame a reporter and vice-manager of the Department's Jewish Report. As a part of his activities for Żegota and the Jewish Report, Bartoszewski organized assistance for the participants of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in April 1943.
[edit] The Warsaw Uprising
On 1st August 1944, Bartoszewski began his participation in the Warsaw Uprising. He was an aide to the commander of radio post “Asma” and editor-in-chief of the magazine The News form the City and The Radio News.
On the 20th September, by the order of the commandant of the Warsaw District of the Home Army – General Antoni “Monter” Chruściel, Bartoszewski was decorated with the Silver Cross of Merit (as a result of the proposal put forward by the chief of the Information and Propaganda Bureau in General Headquarters of the Home Army – Colonel Jan Rzepecki). On 1st October, he was appointed Second Lieutenant by the Home Army commander general Tadeusz “Bór” Komorowski (also due to a proposal by Rzepecki). He received the Cross of Valor order on 4th October.
[edit] Activity after the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising
Bartoszewski left Warsaw on 7th October 1944. He continued his underground activity in the Information and Propaganda Bureau of the Home Army, at its General Headquarters in Kraków. From November 1944 to January 1945 he held a position as editorial team secretary for Information Bulletin. At the end of February 1945 he returned to Warsaw, where he began his service in the information and propaganda section of NIE.
[edit] Communist Poland
[edit] Stalinist Period
From May to August 1945, Bartoszewski was serving in the sixth unit of the Delegatura (he was responsible for information and propaganda) under the supervision of Kazimierz Moczarski). On 10th October 1945 he revealed that he had served in the Home Army.
In autumn 1945 he started his cooperation with the Institute of National Remembrance at the presidium of the government and the Head Commission of Examination of German Crimes in Poland. His information gathered during the occupation period about the Nazi crimes, the situation in concentration camps and prisons, as well as his knowledge concerning the Jewish genocide appeared to be very helpful.
In February 1946 he began his work in the editorial section of Gazeta Ludowa (People’s Gazette), the main press organ of the Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (Polish People's Party, PSL). Soon, he joined the PSL, at that time the only influential party in opposition to the communist government. In the articles published in Gazeta Ludowa, he mentioned the outstanding figures of the Polish Underground State (the interview with Stefan Korboński, the report from the funeral of Jan Piekałkiewicz), and the events connected with the fight for liberation of the country (a series of sketches presenting the Warsaw Uprising entitled Dzień Walczącej Stolicy).
Due to the collaboration with the oppositional PSL he soon fell victim to repressions by the security services. On 15 November 1946 he was falsely accused of being a spy. He was arrested and held in the Ministry of Public Security of Poland. In December he was transferred to the prison on Rakowiecka Street and released on the 10 April 1948 due to the help of Zofia Rudnicka (she was working in the Ministry of Justice and was a former chief of Żegota Bureau). Bartoszewski was again arrested on 14 December 1949. He was kept in the building of Ministry of Public Security of Poland and in the prison on Rakowiecka Street. On 29 May 1952, he was sentenced by the Military District Court for eight years under the accusation of being a spy. In April 1954, he was moved to the prison in Rawicz and in June to the prison in Racibórz. He was released in August 1954 on a year parole due to his bad health condition.
On 2 March 1955, Bartoszewski was found wrongly sentenced.
[edit] Literary, academic and journalistic activity
After Bartoszewski was released from prison and was found wrongly sentenced, he returned to his journalistic activity. Since August 1955 he had been the editor-in-chief of specialist publishing houses of the Polish Librarians Association. Since July 1956 he had been publishing his articles in Stolica weekly. Since January 1957 he had been a member of an editorial section and from summer of 1958 to December 1960 he was holding the position of the secretary of the editorial section. In August 1957 he started his cooperation with Tygodnik Powszechny – Universal Weekly (since July 1982, he had been the member of the editorial section).
On 18th April 1963 he was decorated with the Order of Polish Reborn for his help to the Jews during the war (by the proposal put forward by the Jewish Historical Institute). From September to November 1963 he was staying in Israel at Yad Vashem Institute invitation. In the name of the Council for Aid to Jews, he received the diploma of the Righteous Among the Nations (in 1966, he also received the order of The Righteous Among the Nations).
From November to December 1963, Bartoszewski was staying in Austria, where he entered into communication with Austrian intellectual and political societies. In November 1963, he started his cooperation with Radio Free Europe. In the next years he was traveling to the Federal Republic of Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Israel and the U.S., where he got in touch mainly with the representatives of Polish emigration (among others with Jan Nowak Jeziorański, Adam i Lidia Ciołkosza, Jan Karski, Czesław Miłosz, and Gustaw Herling-Grudziński).
In the years 1969–1973 he was the chairman of the Warsaw Department of Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Książki, and in December 1969 he was appointed a member of the board of the Polish Penclub. In the years 1972-1983, he was the chief secretary of the Polish Penclub. In the years 1973-1982 and 1984-1985 he was lecturing as an older lecturer (the counterpart of vice professor). His lectures concerned the modern history (with the special emphasis on the war and occupation) in Institute of Modern History on the Humanistic Science Department of KUL (Catholic University of Lublin).
On 11th and 12th December 1981 he was an active participant in the First Polish Culture Congress, which was interrupted by the enforcement of the martial law in Poland.
In 1983-1984 and 1986-1988 he was lecturing at the Institute of Political Science Faculty of Social Sciences Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich (as well as the Media Science Institute at the same university in the years 1989-1990). He obtained the professor’s degree by the Bavarian government. In the academic year 1985 he was lecturing at the Faculty of History and Social Sciences at the Catholic University Eichstatt in the Federal Republic of Germany.
In 1984 he received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew College in Baltimore (USA), as well as the diploma of recognition from the American-Jewish Committee in New York. Since May 1984 Bartoszewski has been the full member of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America. Since 1986 he had been one of the deputy-chairmen at the Institute of Polish-Jewish Studies in Oxford. In 1986, while being on emigration, he was awarded with the Order of Poland Restored (Polonia Restituta) (Commander with Star) by the president of the Republic of Poland. From 1988-1989 he was lecturing at the Institute of Political Science in the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences at the University in Augsburg.
He took part in many international conferences and symposia dedicated to the issues of the World War II, the Jewish genocide, Polish-German and Polish-Jewish relationships, and the role of Polish intellectualists in politics. He delivered a number of lectures and reports on the various international forums.
[edit] Opposition activity
In 1970, due to his opposition activity and various relations in Western countries he was forbidden to publish his works in Poland (till Autumn 1974), he also fell victim to other repressions (searches, denials for passport, distributing forgeries). In 1974, he was engaged in the activity that focused on reprieving the convicted members of the Ruch organization (among others Stefan Niesiołowski, Andrzej Czuma and Benedykt Czuma). In January 1976, as one of the first, Bartoszewski signed the letter of intellectualists protesting against the introduction of changes into the PRL constitution. Since 1978 he had been taking part in establishing the Society for Educational Courses and he had been lecturing at the Flying University.
On 21 August 1980, he signed the intellectuals’ letter to the protesting workers from the Polish coast. In the years 1989-1991 he was a member of the Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity. After announcing the martial law on 13th December 1981, he was an internee in Białołęka prison and later in Internment Center in Jaworze at Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area. He was released on 28 April 1982 due to the support from intellectual communities from Poland and from abroad.
[edit] Third Republic of Poland
[edit] Diplomat and politician
From September 1990 to March 1995 he was holding the position of the Ambassador of Polish Republic in Austria. In 1995, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Józef Oleksy’s government.
On 22nd December 1995, he resigned from the position due to the end of Lech Wałęsa’s presidential term. Once again, he became a chief of Polish Internal Affairs in June 2000 in Jerzy Buzek’s government. From 1997 to 2001, he was the senator of the fourth term and the chairperson in the Office for International Affairs and European Integration; as a Senior Speaker he chaired the inaugural session of the Senate.
On 28th April 1995, he delivered over an hour speech during the solemn session of Bundestag and Bundesrat on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the ending of the World War II as the only foreign speaker.
Since 21st November 2007, Władysław Bartoszewski is secretary of state in the Office of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister Donald Tusk) and plenipotentiary for international affairs.
[edit] Social and academic activity
Since June 1990 he had been a chairperson of the International Council of the National Museum in Oświęcim. In 1991-1995, he was the member of the National Council for Polish-Jewish Relations on the presidential office. Since March 1995, he had been the deputy chairman of the Polish Penclub. In 1996, he received the award of Heinrich Brauns from the Bishop of Essen, an honorary doctorate of the University of Wroclaw, as well as the award of Heinrich Heineg Institute.
Since June 2001 Bartoszewski had been the leader of Rada Ochrony Pamięci Walk i Męczeństwa and also the chairman of the International Auschwitz Council at the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland. 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. For many years he has been a strong supporter of the Polish-Jewish and Polish-German reconciliation, and through his journalistic and academic activity he has contributed to retaining the memory of the Polish Underground State, the Warsaw Uprising and the crimes of totalitarism, Nazism, and Communism.
From 26th January to 29th June 2006 he was the leader of the board of LOT Polish Airlines. He is the member of the Polish Writers Association.
He was the chairman of the Polish Foreign Affairs Institute and resigned from the position on 29th August 2006 due to no reaction from the current Minister of the Foreign Affairs – Anna Fotyga - and accusations formulated by deputy Minister of Defense Antoni Macierewicz, who stated that most of hitherto Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the III Republic of Poland were agents of the Soviet Special Services.
[edit] Publications
[edit] 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, ISBN 033342378X.
- 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, ISBN 0807056022.
- 1991 The Jews in Warsaw: A History, ed. with Antony Polonsky, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 1557862133.
- 1991 The Convent at Auschwitz, George Braziller, ISBN 0807612677.
[edit] Polish
- Konspiracyjne Varsaviana poetyckie 1939-1944: zarys informacyjny (Warszawa 1962)
- Organizacja małego sabotazu "Wawer" w Warszawie (1940-1944) (1966)
- Die polnische Untergrundpresse in den Jahren 1939 bis 1945 (Druckerei und Verlagsanstalt, Konstancja 1967)
- 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 (szkic wstępny: Aleksander Gieysztor; bibliogr. prac W. Bartoszewskiego - Zofia Steczowicz-Sajderowa; indeks Zofia Bartoszewska; Znak 1974; wydanie 2 uzupełnione: 1984, ISBN 83-70-06152-4)
- 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, ISBN 09-07-58738-0; Fakt, Łódź 1989 [II obieg])
- Das Warschauer Getto wie es wirklich war. Zeugenbericht eines Christen (1983; także wydanie amerykańskie i angielskie)
- Herbst der Hoffnungen: es lohnt sich, anständig zu sein (Herder 1983, ISBN 34-51-19958-0; 1984, ISBN 34-51-19958-0; 1986, ISBN 34-51-19958-0)
- 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, Warszawa 1984 [II obieg]; Alfa 1989, ISBN 83-70-01283-3; Świat Książki 2004, ISBN 83-73-91679-2)
- 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)
- Aus der Geschichte lernen? Aufsätze und Reden zur Kriegs- und Nachkriegsgeschichte Polens (przedmowa: Stanisław Lem; Deutscher Taschenbuch, Monachium 1986)
- Syndykat zbrodni (pod pseudonimem "ZZZ"; 1986)
- Uns ein vergossenes Blut. Juden und Polen in der Zeit der Endlösung (1987)
- Na drodze do niepodległości (Editions Spotkania, Paryż 1987, ISBN 28-69-022-3)
- Polen und Juden in der Zeit der "Endlösung" (Informationszentrum im Dienste der christlich-jüdischen Verständigung, Wiedeń 1990, ISBN 09-19-58132-3)
- 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, ISBN 83-70-33104-1; wydanie 2 zmienione: 2005, ISBN 83-70-33545-4)
- Kein Frieden ohne Freiheit. Betrachtungen eines Zeitzeugen am Ende des Jahrhunderts (2000)
- Ponad podziałami. Wybrane przemówienia i wywiady - lipiec-grudzień 2000 (Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych 2001, ISBN 83-90-76657-4)
- Wspólna europejska odpowiedzialność. Wybrane przemówienia i wywiady, styczeń-lipiec 2001 (Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych 2001, ISBN 83-91-56981-0)
- Moja Jerozolima, mój Izrael. Władysław Bartoszewski w rozmowie z Joanną Szwedowską (posłowie: Andrzej Paczkowski; Rosner i Wspólnicy 2005, ISBN 83-89-21766-X)
- Und reiß uns den Hass aus der Seele (Deutsch-Polnischer Verlag 2005, ISBN 83-86-65318-3)
- Władysław Bartoszewski: wywiad-rzeka (rozmowy z Michałem Komarem; Świat Książki 2006, ISBN 83-247-0441-8)
- Dziennik z internowania. Jaworze 15.12.1981 – 19.04.1982 (Świat Książki 2006)
- Pisma wybrane 1942-1957, Tom I (Universitas 2007, ISBN 97883-242-0698-8)
[edit] German
- Die polnische Untergrundpresse in den Jahren 1939 bis 1945 (Druckerei und Verlagsanstalt, Constancy(?) 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, ISBN 34-51-19958-0; 1984, ISBN 34-51-19958-0; 1986, ISBN 34-51-19958-0)
- Aus der Geschichte lernen? Aufsätze und Reden zur Kriegs- und Nachkriegsgeschichte Polens (foreword: Stanisław Lem; Deutscher Taschenbuch, Monachium 1986)
- Uns ein 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, Wien 1990, ISBN 09-19-58132-3)
- Kein Frieden ohne Freiheit. Betrachtungen eines Zeitzeugen am Ende des Jahrhunderts (2000)
- Und reiss uns den Hass aus der Seele (Deutsch-Polnischer Verlag 2005, ISBN 83-86-65318-3)
[edit] External links
[edit] References
The article is the translation of its Polish version - Władysław Bartoszewski
this article is very inspiring, about a fantastic human being. However, a Polish to English translator needs to proofread it as the verb tenses are wrong throughout.
[edit] Gallery
 Władysław Bartoszewski, Warsaw, July 29, 2004 |
 Władysław Bartoszewski and Stefan Wilkanowicz, Warsaw, March 14, 2005 |
 Władysław Bartoszewski, Warsaw, August 25, 2006 |
 Polish PEN Club, Warsaw, November 6, 2006 |
 Władysław Bartoszewski and Lech Wałęsa, Warsaw, December 8, 2006 |
 Wiesław Chrzanowski, Archbishop Józef Życiński and Władysław Bartoszewski, Kraków, February 12, 2007 |
 Rev. Adam Boniecki, Zofia and Władysław Bartoszewski, Kraków, February 13, 2007 |
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