Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Polish counterpart Grzegorz Schetyna today (16 September) announced the result of the German-Polish Prize Committee’s deliberations.

The German-Polish Prize will be awarded to the former Polish Foreign Minister Władysław Bartoszewski, who died in April, for his work advancing reconciliation between the two countries and for saving the lives of Polish Jews. Bartoszewski suffered terrible hardship at the hands of the Nazis as a prisoner in Auschwitz concentration camp and was later sentenced to several terms in prison by the Communist regime in Poland.

The Prize goes to Władysław Bartoszewski in recognition of his great services for reconciliation between Germany and Poland. Bartoszewski is considered one of the main architects of the German-Polish rapprochement following World War II.

The Foreign Ministers will present the Prize to Bartolszewski’s heirs in 2016 during the events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the signing of the German-Polish Treaty on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, which is of fundamental significance for German-Polish relations today. The two Ministers agree that this anniversary is an apt occasion on which to honour the memory of Władysław Bartoszewski.

The German-Polish Prize, which is awarded by the Governments of the two countries, is the highest distinction anyone can receive in the field of German-Polish relations.