Just before the holiday, one of Warsaw's primary schools was named after professor Władysław Bartoszewski. During the ceremony, which was attended by, among others, the ambassador of Israel Anne Azari and the professor's son Władysław T. Bartoszewski, a lot of beautiful, nice and moving words were said about the patron. The invited guests told the children some titbits about the professor; for example, that he liked geography but didn't like mathematics, and that from the age of twelve he knew he wanted to be a geographer or reporter.

Encouraged by the stories about Władysław Bartoszewski, I decided to reach for an inconspicuous little book called "Pędzę jak dziki tapir. Bartoszewski w 93 odsłonach" ("I run like a wild tapir. 93 approaches to Bartoszewski") by Marek Zając. I discovered that it is the kind of book I have read many times. It is excellent, especially when the wider world weighs me down with problems. It lets you crack a smile and look at things from a distance, because, as the professor said: "We do what we can, and what we can't do we will do as well!"

In 93 short stories we get to know professor Bartoszewski from a different viewpoint. The Internet, TV and public speeches show us only his positive but official side. However, he was both usual and unusual, with superior intelligence, inspirational, and full of positive energy. We can recount his memoirs at length, which sometimes seem like they could have come from a breath-taking movie: About Auschwitz, AK (Polish Home Army), support of Jews during the occupation, his work, politics and social activity. Thanks to this book we won't forget that he was a friend to all honourable people, who used to come to him to charge their internal batteries with positive energy, and that he could joke like nobody else and was the master of the witty comeback.

As well as Władysław Bartoszewski we meet other well-known figures from the cultural and political world: Angela Merkel, Jan Paweł II and Israel Gutman. Their meetings in the book are completely different from the ones we know from TV. They are marked by a friendly atmosphere, sometimes intimacy, as a result of lasting friendship or the easy of manner of the professor.
I think that in our time, when young people don't even realise that they lack good role models, people like professor Bartoszewski are worth their weight in gold. They learn how to be a decent person and a true friend; how to follow their own ideals, to be faithful to their own opinions and to value their own and other people's freedom. They also learn how to be open-minded, have respect for opponents, and to be a good and wise person.

Reach for this book – not like a set book at school – but as a reward or dessert, and to lift your spirits. And then maybe like me you will imprint in your memory the professor's words: "Be social class aware! Hold on to what you can! Act the way you think and think while you act!" and you will regret the fact that this book is so short.

I recommend it!

Read also:
"Nothing usual. About Wisława Szymborska" Michał Rusinek
"The Miniaturist"
"The Book thief"