Poland:New Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has named a war hero, Auschwitz survivor and former foreign minister as his special adviser on the country's complex relations with Germany, Russia and Israel.
The appointment of Wladyslaw Bartoszewski (85) is a clear sign of Mr Tusk's determination to draw a line under the confrontational foreign policy of his predecessor, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and improve ties with Berlin that have come under severe strain.
Mr Bartoszewski was a fierce critic of Mr Kaczynski and his twin, Lech, who is still Poland's president, dubbing them and their foreign ministry appointees "diplo-morons" who constantly picked fights with other countries and embarrassed Poland on the world stage.
"He is a patron of a new chapter in Polish history," said Mr Tusk who, like Mr Bartoszewski, has been accused by the Kaczynskis of being too friendly with Germany and too soft on Russia, Poland's powerful neighbours and serial invaders down the centuries.
"With my appointment to this position, Poland has given Germany a sign of its good will," said Mr Bartoszewski, adding that Poland expects "gestures of good will" in return.
Mr Bartoszewski, who speaks German and has taught in German universities, has been a leading advocate of Polish reconciliation with Germany despite his experiences during the second World War.
He was arrested in Warsaw by German occupying forces in 1940 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in southern Poland.
After his release the following year, he worked in the Polish underground to help Jews escape the Holocaust, and was later deemed one of the "Righteous Among the Nations" by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial organisation.
Mr Bartoszewski took part in the 1944 Warsaw uprising against the Nazis but, like many of his comrades in the underground, he was later persecuted and jailed by the Soviet-backed communist regime that took control of post-war Poland.
He was a fierce critic of communism and supported the pro-democracy Solidarity movement in the 1980s, but after the fall of the Soviet empire he worked to improve ties with Moscow during two stints as foreign minister.
