Born in 1935 on Poland’s Eastern Borders, Weiss went into hiding during World War II in a Ukrainian and then Polish family. In 1992-96 he led the work of the Israeli parliament, and in the period 2001-03 he served as Israel’s ambassador to Poland. Weiss received many awards in the country and was one of the people who contributed most to the development of Polish-Israeli relations – recalls “Haaretz”.

Weiss is a political science professor. After World War II, he went to Israel with his family. He has been a member of the Knesset since 1981 and has also held, among other positions, Chairman of the Board of the Yad Vashem Memorial Institute. He became famous as the author of several dozen books on political and sociological topics, as well as books about World War II and addressed to children and adolescents. He taught at the University of Warsaw and published in many Polish dailies and magazines.

In 2004, President Aleksander Kwaśniewski awarded Weiss with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. In 2017, President Andrzej Duda awarded him the highest state honor – the Order of the White Eagle – “in recognition of his outstanding contribution to deepening friendly and comprehensive relations between the Republic of Poland and the State of Israel.”

Weiss was an honorary doctorate at the University of Wrocław, the University of Warsaw, the Medical University of Łódź, the Academy of Special Education in Warsaw and the University of Economics in Katowice. (PAP)

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