Zygmunt Rolat on Poland's Righteous Gentiles Memorial
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
20.11.2013 15:59
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NFP 20 11 2013 INTERVIEW WITH ZYGMUNT ROLAT.mp3
Philanthropist Zygmunt Rolat tells Polish Radio about his project to erect a memorial to Poles who aided Jews during Nazi-occupied Poland during WWII.
Zygmunt Rolat: photo - wikicommons
Zygmunt Rolat announced the idea for the memorial - which is to be located near to the new Museum to the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, of which he is a committee member - while receiving the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Poland Reborn medal for his contribution to Polish-Jewish dialogue in Washington from President Bronislaw Komorowski in September.
Born in Częstochowa in 1930, Zygmunt Rolat is a Polish Jew who lost his family during the war and as a boy of 15 emigrated from Poland.
He settled in the United States and developed a successful business career there and is one of the main benefactors of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.
A 27-strong committee, which is to lobby promote the project brings together prominent personalities from Poland, the United States, Israel, Canada, France and Australia, including former Polish foreign minister Adam Rotfeld, former Speaker of the Knesset and Israeli ambassador to Poland Shewach Weiss and former US ambassador in Warsaw Lee Feinstein.
The memorial is to be financed solely from donations by Jewish communities around the world and is to be located close to the newly-opened Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
Zygmunt Rolat is speaking with Polish Radio's English Section Michal Kubicki.