TITLE BOARD
THE WORLD KNEW
Jan Karski’s Mission for Humanity
Exhibition produced by the Polish History Museum in partnership
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
and the Jan Karski Educational Foundation
www.jankarski.net
BOARD NUMBER 1
THE PROPHETIC WITNESS
I was an insigni�icant little man. My mission was important.
Jan Karski carried out one of the most monumental missions
attempted in World War II – a cross-continent trek to inform western
leaders in 1942 that the Holocaust was underway. It was planned and
prepared by the largest anti-Nazi resistance movement in occupied
Europe – a Secret State with its own army, courts, schools and newspapers. Only twenty-eight at the time, Karski was chosen because of his
education and service as a diplomat, his �luent command of English,
German and French, and photographic memory.
To bear witness, the Underground smuggled Karski inside the
Nazis’ vast system of industrialized slaughter. That enabled him to
report what he had seen with his own eyes to President Roosevelt,
British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and other top Allied leaders.
That Karski is recognized today as one of the great heroes of the
twentieth century is a tribute to him and to the Secret State that made
his mission possible. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel observed, "Jan
Karski: a brave man? Better: a just man." By the time he died on July 13,
2000, the iconic Karski had become a citizen of the world. The centennial of his birth will be celebrated in 2014.
Hoover Institution Archives
Jan Karski in his Washington apartment in March of 2000.
Photo: Carol Harrison
Jan Karski, courier of the Polish Underground State, 1943.
Thomas Woods Collection
BOARD NUMBER 2
POLISH MELTING POT ORIGINS
I am �irst of all a Pole. My viewpoint, my character and my personality were shaped in Poland 1.
The famous courier was born on April 24, 1914, the youngest of eight children in a family of
modest means. He was christened Jan Kozielewski and would later adopt Karski, one of his many
Underground pseudonyms. His birthplace, Łódź, was Poland’s largest industrial city. Catholic families
like his were a minority; Jews accounted for a third the population. Polish, Yiddish, German and
Russian were spoken daily on its streets.
Liberal and multi-ethnic Łódź profoundly shaped Karski’s world view. His family’s neighbors were
Jews. His mother, Walentyna, frequently reminded him to be kind to their children. She sent him to
Jesuit schools and instilled tolerance at an early age. His father, Stefan was
a leatherworker who died
when Jan was six. An older brother, Marian became his father �igure. Later, as commander of the
Warsaw police and an Underground leader, Marian would provide indispensable introductions and
�inancial support to Karski.
Piotrkowska Street in Łódź. In the distance – New Market Square at the end of the 19th century.
Photo: Bronisław Wilkoszewski, 1896; Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
A typical view of the industrial city of Łódź in the 1920s. Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
During Karski’s times, Łódź was a multicultural and multireligious city. In the photo: a progressive
synagogue and a palace belonging to Jakub Hertz, a Jewish businessman in textiles. Photo: Bronisław
Wilkoszewski, 1896; Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
View of the industrial Łódź. A postcard from before 1918; Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
Piotrkowska Street in Łódź. A postcard from before 1918; Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
Piotrkowska Street in Łódź at the end of the 19th century. Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
A factory whose owner, Izrael Poznański, was the major Jewish industrialist in Łódź. Photo: Bronisław
Wilkoszewski,1896; Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
Children of the Old Town of Łódź. Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
Fish seller, Łódź district of Bałuty, before 1918. Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
1 Jan Karski, in an interview during his visit to Łódź in 1999
BOARD NUMBER 3
PATRIOTIC FAMILY ROOTS
God, Honor and Fatherland – Pledge sworn by Karski and his forebears
In 1795, Poland disappeared from the map of Europe and did not reappear until the end of
World War I. For 123 years, the Poles pressed relentlessly to regain their freedom. Karski’s greatgrandfather fought with Napoleon in vain, hoping he would give the Poles their country back. A grandfather fought in the Uprising of 1863 which the Russians brutally suppressed. When the Central
Powers collapsed in 1918 at the end of World War I, Marshal Józef Piłsudski seized power and a new
Poland was born.
Painting of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa2
Marshal Józef Piłsudski1
Kozielewski family. From the left: grandmother Aurelia, brother Marian, father Stefan, sister Laura,
brother Cyprian and mother Walentyna. Łódź, 1918; Museum of the History of Łódź Collection.
Courtesy of Jan Karski’s family
Mr. and Mrs. Kozielewski had eight children. In the picture: Cyprian, Laura and the eldest, Marian. He
was a soldier of the Polish Legions during World War I and an activist of the Polish Military Organization. During the Interbellum period, he was a police of�icer and, from 1934, a chief of the Warsaw State
Police. He was the one who took care of his youngest brother’s education.
Museum of the History of Łódź Collection. Courtesy of Jan Karski’s family
At the outset of the war, Piłsudski’s forces had mobilized as the Polish Legions and fought many
battles with independence as their ultimate goal. Karski had an ardent Legionnaire in his own family –
his older brother, Marian. With the advent of freedom and Pilsudski’s accession to power, a wave of
patriotic fervor swept the country. It captivated Karski’s mother, Walentyna, who believed Pilsudski
would give birth to a new, indestructible Poland.
Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Łódź, where Jan Karski (Kozielewski) was baptized. The
State Male High School from which Karski graduated was just a few steps away. Museum of the History
of Łódź Collection
1 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Jozef_Pilsudski1.jpg
2 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Czestochowska.jpg
BOARD NUMBER 4
KARSKI’S STUDENT YEARS
I was happy in Lvov [university]… These were happy years.
By the time he graduated from high school in 1931, Karski knew he wanted to become a diplomat.
Funded by his brother, Marian, he began studying law and diplomacy at one of Poland’s best Jan
Kazimierz University in Lvov. In deference to Marian, he joined the Legion of Youth which supported
Pilsudski, who still held the reins of power in Poland. Karski became the group’s commandant in his
second year but found politics distasteful and later resigned.
Lvov, 1930s. Karta Center Archives
Jan Karski (Kozielewski) as a young clerk, right after graduating from Lvov University. Warsaw, 1930s;
Hoover Institution Archives
During his senior year at the university, Jan Karski won an oratorical contest. He later recalled it as one of
his greatest achievements. His task was to defend the decision to behead Louis XVI during the French
Revolution.
Jan Karski International Institute for Dialogue and Tolerance Collection
When Jan Karski (Kozielewski) was graduating from Jan Kazimierz University in Lvov, he received two
diplomas, one in law and one in diplomacy. Jan Karski International Institute for Dialogue
and Tolerance Collection (diploma in law) and The History of the City
of Łódź Museum Collection (diploma in diplomacy)
His academic record was superb, and he became the university’s top debater. These achievements, coupled with his brother’s in�luence, brought him to the attention of the Polish Foreign Ministry
which awarded him prestigious internships at consulates in Ukraine, Romania and Germany. Observing
a Nazi Party Day celebration in Nuremberg in 1935, he was struck by the fanaticism of the crowd.
BOARD NUMBER 5
DIPLOMATIC DREAMS VANISH
Jan Karski was a great admirer of the Polish Marshal Józef Piłsudski. After the leader’s death, he wrote an
article “The dearest memories,” dedicated to Piłsudski. This was Karski’s literary debut 1.
Jan Karski as an of�icer cadet of the army
reserve. In June of 1936, Karski completed
a one-year course for of�icer cadets at
horse artillery reserves. He graduated �irst
among 78 students in his class and, as an
award, received a saber from President
Ignacy Mościcki.
Owner of the photo unknown
Diploma from the School for Of�icer Cadets. Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
Karski’s rise in the �ield of diplomacy was nothing short of meteoric.
After graduating from Jan Kazimierz University, he was sent to Geneva
and later London mainly to improve his language skills. In 1938, after
a year in England, he was recalled to Warsaw to enter an elite foreign
service training program which he �inished with top honors.
But the bright promise of a foreign service career collapsed early on the
morning of August 23, 1939 when he was mobilized and reported to his
horse artillery unit in Oświęcim in southern Poland. In cadet school, he had
distinguished himself as a superb horseman, �inishing �irst in his class.
Jan Karski at a New Year’s Eve party in Warsaw, probably with his �iancée, Renata. Warsaw, before
1939; Hoover Institution Archives
1 Source: Dziesięciolecie Polski odrodzonej 1918–1928, Warsaw, 1928, p. 59
BOARD NUMBER 6
THE BITTER TASTE OF DEFEAT
We were now no longer an army… but individuals wandering collectively toward some wholly inde�inite goal.
Announcement by President of the Republic of Poland Ignacy Mościcki
about the German invasion of Poland 1
Germans storming the Polish-German border in a propaganda photo by Hans Sönnke. September, 1939;
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-51909-0003/CC-BY-SA
Polish soldiers escorted to German captivity through the city of Łódź.
September, 1939; photo: Hugo Jäger. Polish History Museum Collection
Like most Poles on the eve of the war, Karski believed that the Polish Army was well prepared and
could repulse the German war machine. The devastating defeat that followed the invasion of September 1, 1939 came as a great shock. He remembered highways jammed with refugees and soldiers
“drifting with the tide.” Suddenly, a second hammer blow fell when the Red Army invaded Poland on
September 17. Karski described the moment when his unit was captured:
After the last gun and bayonet had been dropped wearily into the now immense heap,
we were surprised to see two platoons of Soviet soldiers jump down from the trucks and
rush along each side of the road in a skirmishing formation, keeping turned on us the
light machine guns they carried.
Polish soldiers surrending in IX Fort Bema. September of 1939;
National Digital Archives
After September 17, 1939, the border between the Third Reich and Soviet Union ran on the Polish
territory. In the picture: a German soldier marking the border post along the demarcation line,
determined by the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. Polish History Museum Collection
German bombers Heinkel He 111 bombing Warsaw. September of 19392
1 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Oredzie_I.Mościcki_1.09.
1939.jpg, after: Jerzy Piorkowski, Miasto Nieujarzmione, Warszawa 1957
2 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/German_plane_bombing_
_Warsaw_1939.jpg, after: Jerzy Piorkowski, Miasto Nieujarzmione, Warszawa 1957
BOARD NUMBER 7
A NARROW BRUSH WITH DEATH
Late in October, rumors began to spread of a possible way out of Soviet captivity. A swap of prisoners was in the works.
Exhumation of the Katyń massacre victims 3
German-Soviet Alliance 1
Signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact 2
Shortly after his capture by the Soviets, Karski learned that enlisted men from areas annexed by
the Third Reich, including Łódź, would be allowed to go home. He decided to pose as a private, to tell
his captors he was a laborer with a pregnant wife. The gambit worked and saved his life. Viewed as
implacable foes of the Soviet system, his fellow of�icers were murdered the following spring in what
would become known as the Katyn Forest Massacre.
The division of Polish land between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, 1939.
Polish History Museum Collection
Polish citizens reading German public announcements on a city notice board.
Warsaw, 1939; photo: Hugo Jäger. Polish History Museum Collection
Karski learned at a ��� camp at Kielce, Poland that he would be sent to a forced labor camp in
Germany. En route, he jumped from a moving train and escaped. He made his way to Warsaw. By then
his brother, Marian, had become commander of the Warsaw police and a high- ranking operative in the
Polish Underground. With Marian as his patron, his �irst missions on behalf of the Secret State soon
followed.
1 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Spotkanie_Sojuszników.jpg
2 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/MolotovRibbentropStalin.jpg
3 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Katyń%2C_ekshumacja_o�iar.jpg
BOARD NUMBER 8
SECOND NEAR-DEATH ENCOUNTER
I had two orders. The �irst was to get you out if I could. The second was to shoot you if I failed 1.
Poles led at gunpoint by German soldiers during a roundup,
Gdańsk (Westerplatte), c. 1939–1945. National Digital Archives
Karski undertook three missions for the evolving Polish Underground and the government-in-exile
in France. On the last, in June 1940, he and his guide attempted to cross Slovakia on foot. They were
betrayed in the countryside and captured by the Gestapo. Hideous torture followed, including severe
beatings in which Karski lost several teeth. Fearing he might �inally break and betray secrets, he
spurned deeply held religious beliefs and attempted suicide. After plunging a razor blade that had
been hidden in the sole of his shoe into his wrists, he lost consciousness.
Expecting to revive him again, his captors rushed him to a hospital in Nowy Sacz, Poland. A few days
later, the Underground engineered a daring escape. Still terribly weak, Karski crawled across the
hospital roof and dropped into the arms of rescuers. A manhunt followed but the Gestapo failed to �ind
him. Thirty-two Poles were executed in retaliation. Some of these victims had nothing to do with
Karski’s escape.
Poles being escorted by German policemen to execution, Palmiry, c. 1940–1943. National Digital Archives
Poles lined up for execution, Sosnowiec, 1941. National Digital Archives
A photo from 1944. Hoover Institution Archives
1 Underground rescuer’s words to Karski
BOARD NUMBER 9
DUAL STRUCTURE OF THE SECRET STATE
For us, now, the road to freedom leads through the torture chambers of the Gestapo and the [Soviet security services], through prisons
and concentration camps, through mass deportations and mass executions 1.
During the German occupation, the continuity of the Polish state was preserved through a
government-in-exile, �irst based in France and later in England. Leaders abroad were to represent
Polish interests and guide Underground operations at home. Major prewar political parties came
together to ensure near-universal support for the new government. A popular World War I hero, Gen.
Władysław Sikorski, became its president and commander-in-chief.
In Poland, a civilian delegate administered Underground courts, schools and an information bureau.
He also recruited and maintained personnel to take public control once the Nazis were driven out. On
the military side, a Home Army commander �ielded a force of 200,000 to support the Allied cause – by
far the largest clandestine force in occupied Europe.
Unlike other occupied nations, Poland had no puppet government.
Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces Władysław Sikorski, left, and the
exiled President of the Republic of Poland Władysław Raczkiewicz, right. National Digital Archives
Structure of the Polish Underground State, 1943
Marian and Edmund Kozielewski, 1922. Museum of the History of Łódź Collection;
courtesy of Jan Karski’s family
1 Manifesto issued to Polish Underground members
BOARD NUMBER 10
KARSKI LEARNS THE FATE OF THE JEWS
Hitler will lose this war, but he will win the war he has declared against the Polish Jews 1.
Warsaw Ghetto, 1940. Hoover Institution Archives
Karski was guided to the Warsaw Ghetto either in September or October of 1942. The transport of Jews
to the Treblinka concentration camp had been already carried out for a few weeks. Germans managed to
transport and murder over 200,000 people. For a young Home Army soldier those few hours spent in the
ghetto were a harrowing experience. He remembered it for the rest of his life. He became an eye witness
to the Holocaust. In the photo: most likely a way to the Umschlagplatz (gathering place for Jews before
their deportation to Treblinka concentration camp). Warsaw, 1942; Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish
Historical Institute.
Jewish children begging on a Warsaw Ghetto street. Warsaw, 1941;
Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
In the summer of 1942, Karski prepared for his historic mission to the West. He would deliver to
London, and later to Washington, eyewitness accounts of his visits to the Warsaw Ghetto and a transit
camp where Jews were being shipped to crematoria.
Inside the Ghetto, Jewish leaders showed Karski sights that would haunt him the rest of his life. They
told him: “Describe what you see with your own eyes. Tell the Allies to bomb German cities forthwith
and to bomb railways lines to death camps. Throw open borders to our �leeing brethren. And mobilize
Jews in the West to demand an end to the slaughter”. Their words deeply moved Karski, and he
resolved to do everything he could before it was too late.
People standing in line for food in the Warsaw Ghetto. Hoover Institution Archives
In August of 1942, a few weeks before Karski entered the ghetto, a well- known Jewish writer, doctor and
teacher Janusz Korczak accompanied a group of children from an orphanage to the Umschlagplatz and
then, to the Treblinka extermination camp. In the photo: Janusz Korczak2
Loading people onto a truck in the Warsaw Ghetto, c. 1939–1943. National Digital Archives
1 Jewish leader Leon Feiner on the eve of Karski’s departure
2 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Janusz_Korczak.PNG
BOARD NUMBER 11
TRANSIT DEATH CAMP
The guards moved steadily forward against the chaotic mass of �lesh, striking out with clubs and ri�le butts to force the victims
toward the ramp leading to the boxcar doors, shooting or bayoneting any too weak or traumatized to move.
Deportation of the Jews to a transit depot in Izbica Lubelska, 1942. The Holocaust
Education & Archive Research Team, www.holocaustresearchproject.org
Jews brought from the German-occupied ghettos in Poland to the concentration camp
in Auschwitz-Birkenau, c. 1939–1943. National Digital Archives
Shortly after his second visit to the Warsaw Ghetto in late August, 1942, a Jewish co-conspirator took
Karski to Izbica Lubelska, a transit camp near Lublin over 200 miles southeast of Warsaw where
Germans were regulating the �low of Jews to Belzec and other death camps. Wearing the uniform of
a Ukrainian guard, Karski closely observed operations for several hours. For the �irst time he knew
indisputably that Jews, not just from Poland, but all of Europe were being exterminated.
Karski would depart for the West in early September 1942. But the information he was asked to take
was much too comprehensive and detailed for even his remarkable memory. It was put on micro�ilm
and stuffed in a hollow house key. A biographer would later write: “All Jan had to do was carry it across
Hitler’s empire.”
Jews on their way to a gas chamber No. 4 in Birkenau, 1944. Photo: Stefan Bałuk
Photography Archives; National Digital Archives
Jews herded onto trains headed for the Treblinka concentration camp. Emanuel
Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
Female prisoners in the barracks of a German concentration camp.
Gdańsk (Westerplatte), c. 1939–1945; National Digital Archives
BOARD NUMBER 12
SKEPTICS GREET KARSKI
I did not say this young man is lying. I said I am unable to believe him. There is a difference 1.
In July 1943, President Roosevelt spent more than an hour meeting with Karski in the White House.
When he left the meeting, Karski was ecstatic – convinced that swift action would follow. “He really
projected majesty, power, greatness… a master of humanity,” Karski later wrote. But ��� did not act.
British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, �.�. Secretary of War Henry Stimson, bishops and famous
journalists all heard Karski’s dramatic report. Many were skeptical, �inding it impossible to believe
that even the Nazis would attempt to murder an entire people.
In order to be succinct and to make the deepest possible impression, Karski rehearsed many times
and condensed his verbal report to eighteen minutes. He delivered it verbatim from memory to any
audience who would listen.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1942. Library of Congress Archives
Jews led by German soldiers at gunpoint during the Warsaw Ghetto
Uprising. Warsaw, 1943; National Digital Archives
Beggar, Warsaw Ghetto. Hoover Institution Archives
Wired fences at the Auschwitz concentration camp, c. 1945–1980. Photo:
Stefan Bałuk Photography Archives; National Digital Archives
U.S. Secretary of State Cordel Hull in conversation with British Foreign
Minister Anthony Eden during World War II. U.S. Department of State
According to Jan Karski, the only result of his mission was the death of Szmul Zygielbojm, leader of the
Jewish Bund, who committed suicide on May 12, 1943, to protest the world’s indifference toward Nazi
atrocities committed against the Jewish nation. Karski blamed himself for indirectly bringing about his
death. In the photo: Szmul Zygielbojm. Hoover Institution Archives
1 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter on hearing Karski’s report
BOARD NUMBER 13
FROM COURIER TO PUBLIC MAN
Rome, c. 1943–1944 1
German-occupied Paris, June of 1940 2
New York during World War II 3
A view of London after being bombed on September 7, 1940 4
By late September 1943, Karski’s cover as an emissary had been compromised. It was clear he could
not go back to Poland. Nazi propaganda had labeled him a Bolshevik agent serving American Jews. Fast
becoming a legend, the government-in-exile sought to capitalize on his star value through a Hollywood
production. His hair-raising escapes were ideal material, so he shopped a screenplay at the studios in
Hollywood.
But the war had turned. Studio executives saw German defeat as inevitable. The heroic Polish pilots
in the Battle of Britain were forgotten. The Poles had become “trouble-makers” – inconvenient Allies
who muddied the waters with Stalin. A war begun to save Poland had become a war to defeat the Nazis
by any possible means.
The resettling of the Jews from the Praga district to the Warsaw Ghetto, 1939. National Digital Archives
Diploma awarding the Silver Cross Virtuti Militari to Jan Karski for his distinguished war deeds. January
30, 1943; Jan Karski International Institute for Dialogue and Tolerance Collection
A view of the destroyed Warsaw Ghetto, c. 1943–1950. National Digital Archives
1 Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-729-0004-01 / CC-BY-SA
2 Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-129-0480-26 / Boesig, Heinz / CC-BY-SA
3 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/NewYorkCityManhattanRockefellerCenter.jpg
4 Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/London_Blitz_791940.jpg,
after: New York Times Paris Bureau Collection, U.S. Information Agency (08/01/1953 - 03/27/1978)
BOARD NUMBER 14
KARSKI’S BESTSELLING WAR MEMOIR
He [Karski’s literary agent] thinks the book will be a sensation 1.
Jan Karski dictating his book to Krystyna Sokołowska. New York, 1944;
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives
Rebuffed by Hollywood, Karski was assigned by the government-in-exile to write a war memoir – Story
of a Secret State. Working around the clock, he produced a manuscript in matter of months. Published
by Houghton Mif�lin in November 1944, it became an overnight sensation, selling some 400,000 copies.
Americans now understood – many for the �irst time – the plight of the Poles; the heroism of their
Underground State; and the full horror of the Holocaust. The New York Times, Washington Post and Los
Angeles Times gave glowing reviews, and foreign editions followed.
Karski barnstormed America to promote the book. However, his stinging criticism of the Yalta
Conference, and its dire implications for Poland, were controversial. He was trying, wrote one writer,
to steal the communists’ “victory march.” The Russians denounced him as an aristocrat lacking in
feeling for the working man. In mid-1945, the �.�. and Great Britain withdrew recognition of the Polish
government-in-exile and recognized a Stalinist puppet regime in its place.
1 Karski cable to Minister of Information Stanislaw Kot
BOARD NUMBER 15
GEORGETOWN DON
He portrayed himself to his classes as a former prisoner of the Soviets, who had seen his native country stolen away by Stalin.
In 1948, Karski entered Georgetown University in Washington and was awarded a Ph.D. four years
later. He became a �.�. citizen in 1954. For the next 40 years, he taught history and politics at
Georgetown’s renowned School of Foreign Service. In 1974, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to
work on his comprehensive study of recent Polish history. Published in 1985 as The Great Powers and
Poland – 1918–1945, it has become a standard in the �ield.
Jan Karski after his Ph.D. defense at Georgetown University.
June 9, 1952; unknown private collection
Jan Karski’s Ph.D. diploma from Georgetown University. Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
“God bless America, God bless Georgetown”. Professor Karski was emotionally attached to Georgetown
University. He often referred to his alma mater as the home which embraced him when he needed it most.
In 1983, Karski was awarded an honorary doctorate by Georgetown University. With the addition of the
Karski bench, former students (and others) could “sit” next to the great professor. Photo: Jane U. Robbins;
Jan Karski U.S. Cenntenial Campaign
BOARD NUMBER 16
THE BEAUTY, GRACE AND TRAGEDY OF POLA
Karski had �irst seen Pola Nireńska dance in London in the 1930s. After meeting her again in
Washington DC in 1956, a long courtship followed; they were married nine years later. Karski became
a doting husband and advanced her career. Before the war, she had danced throughout Europe, but lack
of work forced her to leave London in 1949. Arriving in New York penniless, she supported herself as
a dishwasher and struggled to teach dance. Later, she opened a dance studio in Washington and
became a successful choreographer.
Pola Nireńska. Pola Nireńska’s album, Jan Karski International Institute
for Dialogue and Tolerance Collection
Jan and Pola got married in 1965 in Washington, D.C. They exclusively spoke English at home although
for both of them Polish was their �irst language. Pola Nireńska’s album, Jan Karski
International Institute for Dialogue and Tolerance Collection
Pola lost several brothers and sisters in the Holocaust. She converted from Judaism to Catholicism, but
never recovered from the world’s indifference to the plight of the Jews. Late in life, she choreographed
a modern dance to express that trauma. It received favorable reviews. Deeply depressed, she took her
life in 1992.
Pola Nireńska. Collage made from pictures created by Claude Lanzmann during the making of his �ilm
“Shoah”. Used with permission from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem,
the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem
Wigman Girls. Pola Nireńska’s album, Jan Karski International Institute
for Dialogue and Tolerance Collection
BOARD NUMBER 17
FAME SPIKES AGAIN
Go back and confront the cruel past before the camera 1.
Years went by in which Karski said little about his mission for the
Polish Underground or the Holocaust. In 1978, after much persistence,
the French �ilmmaker Claude Lanzmann persuaded him to appear in
Shoah, a documentary that would reach a huge worldwide audience and
stir great controversy. Stressing the uniqueness of the Holocaust,
Lanzmann omitted Karski’s account of what Poles did to rescue Jews.
His interviews with peasants made it seem that all Poles were
anti-Semitic and barely drew any distinction between Nazi killers and
the Poles under occupation.
Karski refused to condemn the �ilm for its omissions and defended
Lanzmann’s decision to focus exclusively on the suffering of the Jews.
The �ilm thrust Karski back into the limelight, and he would remain
there through much of his remaining life as a new generation of admirers became captivated by his exploits.
Jan Karski during the opening of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in
Washington, D.C.
Photo: Max Hirshfeld
Jan Karski during the �ilming of Claude Lanzmann’s documentary
„Shoah”. Collage of the photos used with permission from the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and
Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem
1 Essence of what French �ilmmaker Claude Lanzmann told Karski
BOARD NUMBER 18
MANKIND’S “SECOND ORIGINAL SIN”
This sin will haunt the human race till the end of time. It does haunt me. And I want it to be so.
Forty years after he was smuggled inside the Warsaw Ghetto, the
Israelis planted a tree at Yad Vashem to commemorate his life. In 1981,
Karski gave a much-admired keynote address at a conference at the
Holocaust Museum to honor �.�., British and Russian soldiers who
liberated Nazi death camps. Honorary doctorates and many other
awards followed, including Poland’s highest civilian honor, the White
Eagle.
On May 29, 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Karski a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom. To the end, Karski maintained
that the Holocaust was mankind’s “second original sin”.
Jan Karski at the International Conference of Holocaust and Genocide
organized by Elie Wiesel on October 26, 1981. Karski talked about the
Allies’ callousness towards the fate of the Jews in Europe. In the photo:
Jan Karski – Polish emissary and Righteous Among the Nations – at the
Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem. Photo: Michał Fajbusiewicz
The Righteous Among the Nations diploma presented to Jan Karski in 1982.
Jan Karski International Institute for Dialogue and Tolerance Collection.
A plaque from the Garden of The Righteous in Adas Israel Congregation.
Cleveland Park, USA; Polish History Museum Collection
BOARD NUMBER 19
THE HOLOCAUST IN PERSPECTIVE
Jews want – they demand – that the world recognizes the
singular character, the uniqueness of the Holocaust. After all,
nothing like that had ever happened in the history of the world.
I agree with the Jews on this point. The Holocaust cannot be
compared to the suffering of any other nation. We, the Poles,
suffered and made enormous sacri�ices, but indeed almost all
Jews perished. I repeat once again: the tragedy of the Jews is
incomparable – nothing like this had ever happened in the
history of humankind… Whenever I talk to a Jewish community… I stress... that the Polish nation can talk about suffering
more than many other nations. We know well what it means to
lose a war, a revolution and an uprising – we are always losing,
someone is constantly oppressing us, someone is destroying
our towns and churches, someone is keeping us in the dark. We
really know what suffering is. Still, we must acknowledge that
the Holocaust was incomparable. One must not forget about
that. Whatever I will ever do, whatever I do, I try to make sure
that others will not forget about it 1.
Jan Karski never grew weary of his �ight to enlighten people about the true
picture of the Holocaust, as shown during a meeting at Temple Emanuel
in Davenport, Iowa, 1986. Jan Karski International Institute for
Dialogue and Tolerance Collection
1 Karski in an interview with Jerzy Korczak, „Tygodnik Powszechny” 26/1991, Cracow, June 30, 1991
BOARD NUMBER 20
JAN KARSKI – HUMANITY’S HERO
We must tell our children about how this evil was allowed to happen – because so many people
succumbed to their darkest instincts; because so many others stood silent. But let us also tell our children
about the Righteous Among the Nations. Among them was Jan Karski – a young Polish Catholic – who
witnessed Jews being put on cattle cars, who saw the killings, and who told the truth, all the way to
President Roosevelt himself 1.
...In pursuit of their goals of destroying the Polish nation and Polish culture and exterminating
European Jewry, the Nazis killed some six million Polish citizens, including three million Polish Jews
during the Holocaust. The bravery of Poles in the underground resistance is one of history's great stories
of heroism and courage 2.
1997, award ceremony in which Ruta Sakowska, Ph.D., receives Jan Karski and Pola Nirenska Award.
From left: Jan Karski, Professor Felis Tych and Dr. Ruta Sakowska. Emanuel Ringelblum
Jewish Historical Institute
2009, Professor Aleksander Skotnicki accepts the Jan Karskiand Pola Nirenska Award. Stradom Center
for Dialogue Archives
In June 2012, movie director Agnieszka Holland receives the Jan Karski Freedom Award. U.S. Embassy
in Warsaw Archives
The Righteous Among the Nations certi�icate presented to Jan Karski on June 7, 1982 by Yad Vashem
Institute. Jan Karski International Institute for Dialogue and Tolerance Collection
President Lech Wałęsa presents Jan Karski with the Order of the White Eagle,
1995. Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
Jan Karski at Georgetown University, 1985. Photo: Carol Harrison
The Righteous Among the Nations medal awarded to Jan Karski
by Yad Vashem Institute. Museum of the History of Łódź Collection
Order of the White Eagle. Museum
of the History of Łódź Collection
Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony, May
29 2012. From the left: Andrzej Rojek, Sigmund
A. Rolat, Adam Daniel Rotfeld, U.S. President
Barack Obama, Robert Kupiecki, Wanda
Urbańska and Bob Billingsley. The White House
Archives
Presidential
Medal
of Freedom.
Ministry
of Foreign
Affairs
Archives
1 President Barack Obama, from speech delivered during Presidential Freedom
Award Ceremony, White House, May 29, 2012
2 President Barack Obama, from letter to Poland's President. Bronisław Komorowski, May 31, 2012
BOARD NUMBER 21
DEATH. BURIAL. LEGACY.
Karski died on July 13, 2000 and was buried on a hill in Mount Olivet
Cemetery overlooking the U.S. Capitol. Polish and American �lags
draped over his cof�in, along with a Star of David patch from the Warsaw
Ghetto. These and other statements commemorate his life.
Jan Karski’s human and humanistic message had a signi�icance that neither the �low of time nor the forces of evil could
erase or mitigate. Thanks to him, more than one generation
continues to believe in humanity1.
Elie Wiesel
The story about Jan Karski is a testimony to the fact that the
greatness of a man is measured by his moral stance. Life is
ful�illed and has a purpose if it complies with ethical values.
Karski’s deeds place him among the greatest heroes in Polish
history2.
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Those who knew Jan Karski will never forget him and his
message will continue to light the path of freedom-loving
peoples throughout the years to come. No one could ask for
a �iner legacy3.
Bill Clinton
see next page
1 Elie Wiesel, Holocaust author and survivor
2 Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Advisor
3 Bill Clinton, Georgetown University graduate and former U.S. President
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Sources Notes:
The Polish History Museum drew on numerous sources,
including Karski’s own “Story of a Secret State”, in preparing
this exhibit. In particular, it wishes to express appreciation
to E. Thomas Wood and Stanislaw M. Jankowski, authors of
“karski: How One Man Tried to Stop the Holocaust”. Quotations on Panels 5, 7, 11, 16 and 17 were from this outstanding work.
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In Cooperation with
Marek Edelman Center for Dialogue in Łódź
Museum of the History of Łódź
National Digital Archives
Sponsored by
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Curators of the exhibition
Magdalena Pawlak and Ewa Wierzyńska
Polish version written by
Joanna Podolska
Translation
Bożena U. Zaremba
English version written by
Allen Paul and edited by Wanda Urbanska
Historical consultation
Professor Andrzej Żbikowski
Leader of the Jan Karski Un�inished Mission program
Ewa Wierzyńska
Graphic Design
Syfon Studio | www.syfonstudio.com
Special thanks to the following organizations and individuals
for providing their collections and resources:
Agora S.A.
Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives)
Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Hoover Institution
Jan Karski International Institute for Dialogue and Tolerance in Ruda Śląska
Jan Karski U.S. Centennial Campaign
Jan Karski Educational Foundation
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Museum of History of Łódź
National Digital Archives in Poland
Polish History Museum
Stradom Center for Dialogue Archives
U.S Embassy in Warsaw
U.S. Department of State
U.S. Library of Congress, Of�ice of War Information Photograph Collection
Yad Vashem, Jerusalem
The Karta Center. Warsaw
The White House
Michał Fajbusiewicz
Max Hirshfeld
Carol Harrison
Stanislaw M. Jankowski
E. Thomas Wood
Allen Paul
Jane U. Robbins
Wanda Urbanska