Konstanty Julian Gebert (pseudonym ''Dawid Warszawski''; born 22 August 1953) is a Polish journalist and a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

activist, as well as one of the most notable war correspondents of various Polish daily newspapers.

Background

Kostanty Gebert was born on 22 August 1953 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, son of top

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

official and former Polish Ambassador to Turkey Bolesław Gebert. He studied at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. During the

1968 Polish political crisis A series of major student, intellectual and other protests against the ruling Polish United Workers' Party of the Polish People's Republic took place in Poland in March 1968. The crisis led to the suppression of student strikes by security forces ...

he participated in students' demonstrations at age 15 with the expectation that his father, a former

Communist Party of America The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

organizer, would be proud of him. He commented "I was expecting he'd crack open a bottle of

vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...

and we'd have a great time. They locked me up at home for three days. Exactly what I would do if it happened to my kid. Fifteen years is not the right age for fighting on the streets. But what heartbreak. I thought I'd become one of the boys. Just like Dad."

Career

Anti-Communism

In 1978, Gebert was one of the main organizers of the so-called Flying University, a secret institution of higher education educating people on various topics forbidden by the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

government of Poland. In 1980, he joined the

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

movement and became one of the members of the "Solidarity of Education and Technics Workers" union. In 1989, Gebert was one of the accredited journalists present at the Polish Round Table talks. Since 1990, he has worked as a member of the Polish Council of Christians and Jews.

Post Communism

Since 1992, Gerbert has worked at the Polish daily newspaper ''

Gazeta Wyborcza (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It was launched on 8 May 1989 on the basis of the Polish Round Table Agreement and as a press organ of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), t ...

''. He served as a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

during the war in Yugoslavia. In 1992 and 1993, he served as an advisor to Tadeusz Mazowiecki, then Special Rapporteur of the

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and its representative in former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. In 1995, he co-founded the

Media Development Investment Fund Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), formerly Media Development Loan Fund, is a New York-registered non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and mission-driven investment fund that provides low-cost financing to independent news and information bus ...

and acted as its vice-chair until 2000. Since 1997, he has served as head of the '' Midrasz'' Polish-Jewish monthly. Since 2011, he has been an Associate Fellow of the

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...

since 2011. He serves as "special advisor on international affairs" with nonprofit organisation Humanity in Action. In a lecture on 9 January 2014 before the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, Gebert said:

People often ask about the importance of democratic traditions in
Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
in ensuring the ultimate success of the revolution that swept away
Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
. I do not think it is all that important, and for a straightforward reason. In Central Europe, with the one exception of
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, democratic traditions, such as they were, never played a significant role…I don’t think democratic traditions are like
fruit preserves Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the meth ...
that you can take out of the
larder A larder is a cool area for storing food prior to use. Originally, it was where raw meat was larded—covered in fat—to be preserved. This method slowed spoilage by sealing out air, bacteria, and moisture. In colder larders (4°C/40°F or lower) ...
and eat sixty-five years later.”, Post-Communist Europe: Twenty Five Years after the Collapse of the Ancient Regime, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs VIII:2 (2014) pp 87-100 .

He is a member of the European Press Prize preparatory committee. Since November 2021 Gebert is part of the international advisory board of the

Austrian Service Abroad The Austrian Service Abroad () is a non-profit organization funded by the Austrian government which sends young Austrians to work in partner institutions worldwide serving Holocaust commemoration in form of the Austrian Memorial Service, support ...

Awards

* Beata Pawlak Award 2022 for ''Ostateczne rozwiązania. Ludobójcy i ich dzieło''

Works

Books catalogued in the Library of Congress are: * ''Mebel'' (1990) * ''Magia słów: polityka francuska wobec Polski po 13 grudnia 1981 roku'' (1991) * ''54 komentarze do Tory'' (2003) * ''Dziesięć dni Europy : archeologia pamięci'' (2004) * ''Wojna czterdziestoletnia'' (2004) * ''Nesim all around me : the life of David Mitzner as told to Konstanty Gebert'' (2004) * ''Living in the land of ashes'' (2008) * ''Miejsce pod słońcem: wojny Izraela'' (2008) * ''Polski alef-bet: Żydzi w Polsce i ich odrodzony świat'' with Anna Olej-Kobus, Krzysztof Kobus (2009) * ''Juifs en Pologne: quand la Pologne a cessé d'être une terre d'accueil'' by Alexandra Subrémon, afterword by Konstanty Gebert (2020) * ''Ostateczne rozwiązania. Ludobójcy i ich dzieło'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gebert, Konstanty 1953 births Living people 20th-century Polish journalists 21st-century Polish journalists 20th-century Polish Jews 21st-century Polish Jews 21st-century Polish writers Polish war correspondents Recipients of the Meritorious Activist of Culture badge Polish magazine founders