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Professor Władysław Bartoszewski turns 80

More than 300 people, including the Polish prime minister, clergy, members of the diplomatic corps, and historians attended a gathering held at the Royal Castle in Warsaw to mark Professor Bartoszewski's eightieth birthday.

Bartoszewski, chairman of the International Auschwitz Council, and former Polish foreign minister, is an honorary citizen of Israel and one of the "Righteous among the Nations of the World." After the war, the former Auschwitz Concentration Camp prisoner played an active role in reconciliation between Poland and Germany. He was the first citizen of a non-EU country to win the Robert Schumann Medal, awarded by the Christian Democrat delegations to the European Parliament and named in honor of one of the fathers of a united Europe. On his jubilee, Bartoszewski received a festschrift, titled Pro Memoria, featuring articles by almost seventy outstanding scholars, political figures, and spiritual leaders.