Marian Turski (born Moshe Turbowicz; 26 June 1926 – 18 February 2025) was a Polish-Jewish historian, journalist and

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivor who served as the editor-in-chief of ''

Sztandar Młodych ''Sztandar Młodych'' () was published between 1950 and 1997 in Warsaw. It was a Polish communist, pro-Soviet propaganda newspaper targeting the youth. References Newspapers published in Warsaw 1950 establishments in Poland 1997 dises ...

'', a nationwide

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

of the

Union of Polish Youth Związek Młodzieży Polskiej (Union or Association of Polish Youth, abbr. ZMP) was a Polish communist youth organization, existing from 1948 to 1956. It was subordinated to Polish United Workers' Party The organization was formally establish ...

in 1956–1957 and from 1958 onwards, a columnist for the moderately critical weekly ''

Polityka ''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. It had a circulation of 95,300 during 2021. ''Polityka'' has a slightly intellectual, socially liberal profile, setting it apart from the more conservative ''Wprost ...

'' as the head of the weekly's historical department. He played a role in falsifying the results of the 1946 referendum and served as a communist censor in the

Voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in ...

Office of Control of the Press, Publications, and Performances in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

. Turski was a member (from 1995), Vice-Chairman (1995–1999; again from 2011) and Chairman (1999–2011) of the Board of the Association of the

Jewish Historical Institute The Jewish Historical Institute ( or ''ŻIH''; ), also known as the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, is a public cultural and research institution in Warsaw, Poland, chiefly dealing with the history of Jews in Poland and Jewish cul ...

of Poland. He was also member of the Board of the Association of Jewish Veterans and Victims of World War II, member of the International Auschwitz Council, member of the Council of the Association running the Wannsee Conference House, and Chairman of the Council of the

Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews () is a museum on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The Hebrew word ''Polin'' in the museum's English name means either "Poland" or "rest here" and relates to a legend about the arrival of the firs ...

Biography

Moshe Turbowicz was born on 26 June 1926 in

Druskieniki Druskininkai (; also see #Name, other names) is a spa town, spa city on the Nemunas River in southern Lithuania, close to the borders of Belarus and Poland. The city of Druskininkai is known for being a Destination spa, spa resort since the 19th ...

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

(present-day

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

). From 1942 he was in the

Łódź Ghetto The Łódź Ghetto or Litzmannstadt Ghetto (after the Nazi German name for Łódź) was a Nazi ghetto established by the German authorities for Polish Jews and Roma following the Invasion of Poland. It was the second-largest ghetto in all of ...

. His father and brother were murdered after selection. From there, in August 1944, he was deported to German Nazi concentration camp at

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. He survived forced evacuation of the camp, the

Death March A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...

of January 1945, from Auschwitz to

Wodzisław Śląski Wodzisław Śląski (; , , , , ) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 47,992 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Wodzisław County. It was previously in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998); close to the border with the Czech ...

, from which he was transported to KL Buchenwald. After the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he settled in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. From 1945, he became an activist of the youth organization affiliated with the

Polish Workers' Party The Polish Workers' Party (, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) and merged with the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) in 1948 to form the Polish United W ...

. He later worked in the Press Department of the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

. From 1958, he managed the historical section of weekly ''

''. He was a communist censor and in 1946 he participated in the falsification of the "3 x YES" referendum helping Stalin to occupy Poland. In March 1965, while on governmental scholarship to the United States, he took part in Martin Luther King's march against racial segregation in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

: from Selma to Montgomery. Turski was a Vice-President of the

Association in Poland, member of the governing board of the Association of Jews, War Veterans and Other Victims of the Second World War II, member of the International Auschwitz Council and Council of the association, which is managing the House of the Wannsee Conference. He was also an Honorary Committee member of the Jewish Motifs Association and the

Jewish Motifs International Film Festival Jewish Motifs International Film Festival () is a major Jewish-themed film festival held annually in Warsaw, Poland. The festival has been held every year since 2004. "The biggest European festival focused on Jewish themes in contemporary cinemat ...

, which is organized by this association. Additionally, he also presided over the Council of the

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews () is a museum on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The Hebrew word ''Polin'' in the museum's English name means either "Poland" or "rest here" and relates to a legend about the arrival of the firs ...

(since 25 March 2009). On 26 June 2016, on the occasion of his 90th birthday, he received regards from, among others,

President of Poland The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as the sixth president of Poland since 2015. Before becoming president, he served as a Member of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014 and before becoming Member of ...

, President of Germany

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany. During the P ...

and Chancellor of Germany

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

, President of United States

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, and President of Israel

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

. In 2019, on the occasion of the

International Holocaust Remembrance Day The International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, is an list of minor secular observances#January, international memorial day on 27 January that memorialization, commemorates Holoca ...

, he was invited to the United Nations to give a speech during the ceremony on 28 January 2019, in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

room.

2020 Auschwitz speech

In 2020, in his speech during the ceremony of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz hosted on 27 January at the memorial site, he called: "Auschwitz did not fall from the sky. It began with small forms of persecution of Jews. It happened, it means it can happen anywhere. That is why human rights and democratic constitutions must be defended. The eleventh commandment is important: Don't be indifferent. Do not be indifferent when you see historical lies, do not be indifferent when any minority is discriminated, do not be indifferent when power violates a social contract." In July 2020, he wrote an open letter published by ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

'' in which he urged

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

founder

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...

to remove all

Holocaust denying Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: *Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" was ...

groups, pages and posts as part of the #NoDenyingIt campaign launched by prominent Holocaust survivors. For years he supported the Never Again Association, which counteracts racism, antisemitism and hate speech

and published in the organization's magazine "Never Agai

Personal life and death

Turski was married to Halina Paszkowska-Turska (who died in 2017), a sound operator. Their daughter Joanna Turska is a

flautist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. Turski died in

on 18 February 2025, at the age of 98.

Awards and decorations

* Silver Cross of Merit (Poland, 1946) * Commander's Cross with Star of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(Poland, 1997) * Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(Germany, 2007) * Officer's Cross of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(France, 2012) * Commander's Cross of the

for contribution to the Polish-German relations (Germany, 2013) * Honorary badge "Merit for the Protection of Human Rights" (Poland, 2015) * Golden

Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture The Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture () or Gloria Artis Medal, is a departmental decoration of Poland in arts awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland to persons and organizations for distinguish ...

(Poland, 2015) * Honorary citizen of Warsaw (Poland, 2018) *

Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg The Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (French: ''Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg'') is an order of merit of Luxembourg, instituted on 23 January 1961 by Grand Duchess Charlotte. Grand Master (order), Grand Master of the ...

(Luxembourg, 2020) * Officer's Cross of the

Order for Merits to Lithuania The Order for Merits to Lithuania () is an award, presented by the President of Lithuania, which may be conferred on the citizens of Lithuania and foreign nationals for distinguished services promoting name of Lithuania, expanding a develop interna ...

(Lithuania, 2021) *

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the Austrian national honours system. History The Decoration of Hono ...

(Austria, 2021)

References

External links

* *
Marian TurskiVirtual Shtetl portal
(in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Turski, Marian 1926 births 2025 deaths Auschwitz concentration camp survivors 20th-century Polish historians 20th-century Polish Jews Polish male non-fiction writers Polish Workers' Party politicians Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis Łódź Ghetto inmates Journalists from Warsaw Polish United Workers' Party members Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Officers of the Legion of Honour 20th-century Polish journalists 20th-century Polish male writers