The prestigious French National Order of the Legion of Honor will be awarded Monday to Marian Turski, a Polish Holocaust survivor, for his contribution to shaping relations between the Jewish Diaspora, France and Poland.
Turski, who was born 86 years ago as Moshe Turbowicz, is the council chairman of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, editor of the history edition of the Polish weekly, “Polityka” and an active member of the International Auschwitz Council, the Association Board that oversees the Wannsee Conference Center.
The ceremony marks the end of the events that took place at the Wannsee Conference exactly 70 years ago, when the decision was made on the "Final Solution" for the Jewish people.
Great efforts were made by Poland to mark the critical decisions made at the Wannsee Conference. A ceremony was held at the site of the former Treblinka concentration camp, one of three camps to be set up in the Lublin region within the framework of “Operation Reinhard", during which six eternal flames were ignited. The flames were lit by District Governor Jacek Kozłowski, Education Minister Gideon Saar, Israeli Ambassador to Poland Tzvi Rav-Ner, Poland’s Deputy Education Minister M. Sielatycki and Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy Michael Rosenthal.
Prior to the ceremony at Treblinka, special meetings took place, where some 200 Polish teenagers and Israeli youths gathered to discuss the importance and lessons of the Holocaust. The discussions also included lighter topics, like Poland's current perceptions of its past. The debates were conducted under the auspices of the Museum of the History of the Polish Jews, which is set to officially open next year. The museum, situated at the center of Warsaw on land that was donated by the city council, is currently collecting donations to complete the exhibition. President Shimon Peres and U.S. President Barack Obama have announced their intention to attend the opening ceremony.
Also on Monday, not far from the concentration camps erected under Operation Reinhard by the Nazis in the Autumn of 1943, the Markowa City Council will lay a cornerstone of the modest “Ulm Family Museum of Poles who rescued Jews”. The museum is named after the Ulm family, which was killed for providing shelter to eight Jews. The family of eight included Józef Ulm, his wife and six children.

Haaretz.com