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I, a Polish Catholic, belong to a generation that has personal experience of helplessness in the face of evil. I also spent seven months in Auschwitz. Finally, we are linked by an enduring collective feeling of shame for Europeans and for their passiveness and the failure of the European and American tactics of the time.

— Władysław Bartoszewski

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More quotes by Władysław Bartoszewski

As a historian I refuse to recognize an epochal boundary before the fact.

It's worth being honest, although it doesn't always pay off. It pays off to be dishonest, but it isn't worth it.

I have made it a habit not to speculate over the psychological state of our elected leaders.

From a material perspective, it might not always pay to be honest, but from a moral perspective, it's always the right thing. That applies to a frail person as well as a criminal. This was my guiding principle - both when I was in captivity and after I was released.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Władysław Bartoszewski (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.