Jan Karski, born on 24th June, 1914, was a liaison officer of the Polish underground. He studied in a local school and later joined the Jan Kazimierz University of Lwow. From there, he completed his graduation in 1935 in Legal and Diplomatic studies.
He joined the Polish army in 1939. He was caught by the Soviet Army and was imprisoned at the Russian Camp. He managed to escape from there. He came to German-occupied Poland and joined the Polish underground. He served as a bridge between the government-in-exile in London and the Polish underground.
Officer Jan Karski was again arrested in 1940 by the Gestapo in Slovakia. However the Polish underground rescued him. Then he started serving in the Information and Propaganda Bureau of the Headquarters of the Home Army. He was appointed by Cyryl Ratajski, Delegate at Home of Polish Government, in summer of 1942 to perform a secret mission to Prime Minister Wladyslaw Sikorski in London. He reported about the situation in Poland to the Polish, US and British governments, mainly about the destruction of
the Warsaw Ghetto. He played a major role in informing the West about the miserable condition of Poland.
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He published a book named 'Story of a Secret State' in 1944 writing about the various experiences that he had in Poland during the war. After the Second World War, he had to escape to United States to save himself from the communist-ruled Poland. He completed PhD in 1952 at the Georgetown University. Thereafter, he became a faculty of that university where he taught for 40 long years. He was granted the citizenship of United States in 1954. He married Pola Nirenska, a Polish Jew in 1965. 'The Great Powers and Poland' was published by him in 1985.
Director Claude Lanzmann made a film on Karski's wartime experience in 1978 under the name 'Shoah'. In 1982, a tree bearing his name was planted at the Alley of the Righteous among the Nations, Jerusalem. A book was published on him by E. Thomas Wood and Stanislaw M. Jankowski named 'Karski: How One Man Tried to Stop the Holocaust'. In 1994, he was made an honorary citizen of Israel. He was acknowledged with the 'Order Virtuti Militari' and 'Order of the White Eagle' for his achievements. He also received honorary doctorates from Baltimore Hebrew College, Georgetown University, University of Lodz, Warsaw University, Oregon State University and Maria Curie-Sklodowska University. Jan Karski died on 13th July, 2000 at Washington, DC.
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