In Memoriam Marian Turski

Holocaust survivor Marian Turski, President of the International Auschwitz Committee, passed away in Warsaw on Tuesday, 18 February at the age of 98.

Marian Turski was born Mosze Turbowicz on 26 June 1926; he spent his childhood and youth with his parents and younger brother in Łódź. In 1940, as a Pole of Jewish descent, he and his family were sent to the Łódź ghetto, where Marian was active in the left-wing anti-fascist resistance. In 1944, he and his family were deported to Auschwitz. His father and brother perished in Auschwitz and his mother was deported to Bergen-Belsen. Marian survived two death marches, first to Buchenwald concentration camp and then to Theresienstadt, where he was liberated on 8 May 1945.

After his liberation, Marian Turski worked as a journalist in Warsaw. He remained a “homo politicus” throughout his life - he was active in the youth organisation of the Polish Workers’ Party, then in the press department of the Polish United Workers’ Party; from 1958 he was head of the historical editorial department of the news magazine “Politiyka”. He was still involved in journalism and politics well into his later years. He was Chairman of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and one of the co-founders of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews “POLIN” in Warsaw.

For many years, Marian Turski was involved in the International Auschwitz Council, which advises the Polish government on all matters relating to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, and in the International Auschwitz Committee, which he had chaired as President since June 2021.

Marian Turski made it his life’s work to bear witness; his commitment has been recognised by numerous awards. Just last year, he was honoured within the scope of the Simon Wiesenthal Prize at the Austrian Parliament for his lifelong, dedicated commitment. As Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, once so aptly put it, he was “one of the most important political voices of the survivors of Auschwitz worldwide, which we urgently need in times of renewed outbreaks of antisemitic hatred and the willingness of extremist right-wing forces to use violence.”

In Marian Turski, we have lost a constant, wise and courageous admonisher. He lost none of his sharp mind and farsightedness until the very end. Not long ago, on 23 January 2025, he spoke in Berlin at the commemorative event of the International Auschwitz Committee marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp:

“We give our memories,
our words and our voice.
Our days, those of the survivors, are numbered:
But we will not fall silent,
if you, all of you, do not remain silent!”

This message has become his legacy.
Even in death, Marian Turski’s voice continues to carry weight.