President and First Lady honour Bartoszewski on his 90th birthday
President Bronislaw Komorowski and his wife Anna, PM Donald Tusk, Sejm (lower house) and Senate (upper house) speakers, ministers, parliamentarians and artists attended celebrations marking Wladyslaw Bartoszewski's 90th birthday at Warsaw's Royal Castle on Sunday.
President Komorowski stressed there was no other man whose life was so beautiful and rich as Wladyslaw Bartoszewski's.
The president added that "Bartoszewski was always guided by a very strong compass showing the right direction".
Congratulatory letters for Bartoszewski came from the presidents of France, Austria and Israel, and the German chancellor. They described him "as an example for young Europeans, a man of honour always ready for reconciliation". A congratulatory cable was sent to Bartoszewski by Pope Benedict XVI.
Bartoszewski, a politician, social activist, journalist, writer and historian, was an Auschwitz concentration camp inmate. Thanks to the Polish Red Cross he was released from Auschwitz on April 8, 1941. In 1942 Bartoszewski joined the Home Army (AK) and the Zegota Council for Aid to Jews. After the war Bartoszewski was persecuted by Poland's communist authorities. He spent a few years in prison. Bartoszewski, an activist of Poland's democratic opposition, received many state distinctions, including the Order of the White Eagle. He is an honorary citizen of Israel. He held twice the post of Poland's foreign minister. (PAP)