In the spotlight: Władysław Bartoszewski
He is one of the country's most high-profile inmates of the infamous concentration camp.
Bartoszewski was sent to Auschwitz after being rounded up as an 18-year-old high-school student in 1940. The eight months of almost daily beatings with fists and clubs failed to break his spirit, though, and within months of his release he helped co-found Zegota, the Council for Aid to Jews, a group funded by the government in exile that helped save the lives of 4,000 Jews. From 1942 to 1944 he worked for the Catholic underground organization, Front for the Rebirth of Poland, and from 1942 to 1945 he was employed by the Home Army's information and propaganda bureau, participating in the Warsaw Uprising as a lieutenant.
After the war he worked as a journalist, co-editing Gazeta Ludowa, but didn't enjoy his freedom for long. His courage under German occupation was matched by his principled opposition to the communists and he was imprisoned twice for a total of seven years.
In 1973, Bartoszewski began his academic career as a historian at Lublin's Catholic University, eventually going on to lecture as Professor of Political Science in Munich.
Following the fall of communism he served five years as Polish Ambassador to Austria. Then in 1995 he served his first spell as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Lech Wałęsa. He was recalled to the post six years later between 2000 and 2001. J.T.
Bartoszewski was sent to Auschwitz after being rounded up as an 18-year-old high-school student in 1940. The eight months of almost daily beatings with fists and clubs failed to break his spirit, though, and within months of his release he helped co-found Zegota, the Council for Aid to Jews, a group funded by the government in exile that helped save the lives of 4,000 Jews. From 1942 to 1944 he worked for the Catholic underground organization, Front for the Rebirth of Poland, and from 1942 to 1945 he was employed by the Home Army's information and propaganda bureau, participating in the Warsaw Uprising as a lieutenant.
After the war he worked as a journalist, co-editing Gazeta Ludowa, but didn't enjoy his freedom for long. His courage under German occupation was matched by his principled opposition to the communists and he was imprisoned twice for a total of seven years.
In 1973, Bartoszewski began his academic career as a historian at Lublin's Catholic University, eventually going on to lecture as Professor of Political Science in Munich.
Following the fall of communism he served five years as Polish Ambassador to Austria. Then in 1995 he served his first spell as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Lech Wałęsa. He was recalled to the post six years later between 2000 and 2001. J.T.
