Comments (0)“Righteous Gentile” Joins Polish Government
December 1, 2007Prague
JTA Wire Service
An Auschwitz survivor and “righteous gentile” was named to the Polish government. Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, 85, is the new secretary of state responsible for Poland’s relations with Germany, Russia and Israel.
Bartoszewski, who has been foreign minister of Poland twice since the end of communism, is a non-Jew who spearheaded the anti-Nazi underground government’s aid to Jews during World War II. He has been recognized as one of the Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Museum and Memorial in Jerusalem.
He joins the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a centrist politician who defeated his more conservative rival, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Relations with Israel were largely positive during Kaczynski’s term, with Poland as a fierce defender of Israeli interests in the European Union.
Relations with Germany, however, dramatically declined under the former prime minister as he repeatedly invoked Germany’s Nazi past in his criticism of the country’s current policies. Relations with Russia were equally poor, with both countries carrying old grudges in their economic and political disputes.
Australian Jewry Picks New President
A Sydney-based lawyer was elected president of the umbrella body of Australian Jewry. Robert Goot ran unopposed at the annual conference of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. He succeeds Grahame Leonard, of Melbourne, who served a three-year term. The presidency of Australian Jewry rotates between Sydney and Melbourne every two or three years.
The former president of Moriah College, Australia’s largest Jewish school, Goot has been heavily involved in Jewish affairs since he was elected the youngest president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies in 1978 at the age of 30. He was appointed a member of the Order of Australia in 1988 for service to the Jewish community.
During the recent Australian federal election, Goot was accused of tipping off the Liberal Party about a Labor Party policy launch, prompting an uproar by several Labor apparatchiks. Goot’s election comes just days after incumbent John Howard of the Liberal Party was soundly beaten in the prime minister’s election by Labor’s Kevin Rudd. Howard’s government had been exceptionally close to the Jewish community and Israel.
Lauder Urges Hungary To Fight Extremists
Ronald Lauder urged the Hungarian prime minister to combat right-wing extremism in his country. The World Jewish Congress president and Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany met in Budapest.
Lauder expressed concern over the formation of a paramilitary guard earlier this year by a group known for its xenophobia. Gyurcsany, a left-wing politician, has been one of the most outspoken critics of the far right in Hungary. Lauder thanked him for his support