Georgetown University, Polish Consulate celebrate “Jan Karski Week” with star-studded events
Chicago – The Windy City rolled out the red carpet to celebrate what amounted to “Jan Karski Week,” with events coordinated by Georgetown’s John Carroll Alumni Weekend (JCAW) planners and Chicago’s Polish Consul General Zygmunt Matynia together with leaders of the Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign.
Coming on the heels of President Obama’s April 23 announcement that Jan Karski would soon receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the New York celebration of Jan Karski Day, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recognized the outstanding work of the Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign represented by director Wanda Urbanska at the JCAW mixer at the Art Institute of Chicago on April 27.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi were in attendance, along with former Lt. Governor Neil Hartigan. Karski Centennial Campaign Steering Committee members Rom Poplawski and Anthony Paduano mingled with guests, among them John Forgach, Nick Poplawski, Jane Lepauw, Julie Jones, Deroy Murdock and Aldrinana Leung. “In New York you celebrated Jan Karski Day,” said Rom Poplawski. “Here in Chicago, we’re making a whole week of it!”
Georgetown University partnered with Polish Consul General Matynia on a memorable Karski program on the afternoon of April 28, featuring Steering Committee member Robert L. Billingsley as emcee and Karski biographer Tom Wood as speaker. Noreen Brand, director of education for the Illinois Holocaust Museum, and Ms. Urbanska also addressed the overflow audience which included Minority Leader Pelosi; Paul Pelosi; Georgetown University’s chairman of the board and former Commissioner of the National Football League Paul Tagliabue; Frank Spula, president of the Polish American Congress; Steering Committee member Leonard Kniffel of the American Library Association; Aldona Salska of the Polish American Librarians Association (a Campaign partner) and Gary Kenzer, executive director of the Polish American Association. Bozena Nowicka McLees represented Loyola University of Chicago. Jan Kallmorgen, a political analyst from Berlin, Germany, was also in attendance.
Governor Quinn rearranged his schedule to appear at the event, and made an impassioned, impromptu speech about his former professor, outlining Karski’s life story and his wide influence. Governor Quinn also spoke knowledgeably and glowingly about Poland’s contributions to the world stage and the importance of “Polonia” in the state of Illinois.
Senator Dick Durbin (also a former Karski student) keynoted a luncheon gathering earlier that day in which he described Karski’s outsize influence on everyone he touched at Georgetown and beyond.
During her time in Chicago, Ms. Urbanska also attended meetings with representatives of the Polish American Congress (a Campaign partner), the Polish American Association and the American Library Association.
Photos below (left to right) top row: Bob Billingsley addresses the group, with Ms. Urbanska and speaker Tom Wood; the audience, which included Consul General Matynia with Mrs. Bozena Matynia in the front row and Nancy Pelosi and Julie Jones behind them; middle row: Neil Hartigan with Ms. Urbanska and Nancy Pelosi; Nick Poplawski, Aldrinana Leung, Julie Jones, Rom Poplawski;third row: Consul General Matynia with Ms. Urbanska; John Forgach with Anthony Paduano; Ms. Urbanska with Gov. Quinn
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First Jan Karski Day Celebrated with Obama Announcement
New York - The Polish Consulate in New York hosted the first annual Jan Karski Day at its exquisite de LaMar Mansion on 37th and Madison on April 24 with an exclusive and moving event, the highlight of which was the showing of President Obama's April 23 announcement that he would award Jan Karski with a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom later in the year.
Wanda Urbanska, Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign director, told the overflow crowd how she had personally thanked the president on behalf of all the many campaign stakeholders and supporters, and that President Obama looked her in the eye and said, "We got it done." "What remarkable timing -- a great example of Karski karma at work," she said, "that the president's announcement came just one day before our celebration event of the 98th anniversary of Karski's birth!”
Polish Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka was awarded the first "Spirit of Jan Karski Award" by the Karski Campaign Steering Committee for her outstanding contributions in improving relations between the Polish Catholic and Jewish communities worldwide and for her instrumental support of the Karski Campaign. American Jewish Committee executive director David Harris presented this award in an eloquent and heartfelt fashion, saying that he was honored to have been asked to present the award. "Ewa represents all good things in a human being and on behalf of her beloved Poland," he said. "Head, heart, soul and spine. Over the course of the many years we've worked together, she has always demonstrated the best in a human being, with high integrity and great leadership."
Consul General Junczyk-Ziomecka was overwhelmed by the honor and stated that it was remarkable that the kickoff dinner for the Campaign was held in this same spot only eleven months earlier. "We have come so far in such a short period of time. I want to thank all of you for this amazing achievement -- but especially our remarkable Campaign director Wanda Urbanska."
Georgetown University Steering Committee Member Bob Billingsley discussed the GU Campaign and its goal of establishing a Karski Fund at Georgetown that would include a Karski Chair and a Karski Scholars Fund. "Jan Karski was a modest man, a man who changed my life and the lives of all those Hoyas who had the privilege of studying with him. Still, he was a man who enjoyed a good time and would, like clockwork, call for a Manhattan at 5 p.m."
A highlight of the evening a dramatic staged reading of excerpts from Karski’s book, Story of a Secret State, performed by actor Marcin Lipinski, with Ms. Urbanska narrating.
Mr. Billingsley raised a toast to Steering Committee member Leo J. O'Donovan whose birthday is also April 24. Ms. Urbanska took time to recognize the many partners of the Campaign's effort individually while noting that all of the partners -- in the spirit of Jan Karski -- cared only for the achievement rather than seeking to take personal or organizational credit for the remarkable team effort that was achieved.
Although the many organizational partners and Steering Committee members who worked diligently to achieve this award were acknowledged, Ewa Wierzynska has been the mastermind of the Campaign from her position at the Polish History Museum in Warsaw, where she directs the Jan Karski International Legacy Program.
Photos below (left to right, all courtesy of Przemyslaw Balcerzyk): top row: Consul General Junczyk-Ziomecka with David Harris; the Consul General accepting the award; Bob Billingsley addresses the audience; middle row: David Harris with Story of a Secret State; Bob Billingsley; third row: Actor Marcin Lipinski reenacts Karski's story, with Ms. Urbanska; Allen and Betsy Paul talk with an audience member; bottom row: Chet Szarejko, vice president of the Downstate NY Division of the Polish American Congress, congratulates the Consul General, with Ms. Urbanska and Frank Milewski, its president; Posing at the Jan Karski statue outside the Consulate are Ms. Urbanska, Krysztof Zakrzewski, an attorney from Warsaw, the Consul General, and Jan Karski US Campaign Steering Committee Member Michał Mrożek
Dr. Jan Karski to Receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Washington, DC – President Barack Obama announced today at the US Memorial Holocaust Museum that the late Dr. Jan Karski will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom later this year. He said “Among them (referring to the Righteous Gentiles) was Jan Karski, who witnessed the Jews being put on cattle cars in Poland. This spring I will present him with America’s highest honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
“This highest of civilian honors in our great land validates the principles that Jan Karski stood for: tolerance and understanding among people of all faiths and the courage to speak the truth in the worst of times,” said Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska. After the speech, the President personally commented to Ms. Urbanska, “We got it done!”
“We are happy that President Obama has chosen to award this Medal to a remarkable hero of the Polish-American and Jewish-American communities,” said Campaign Steering Committee member Andrzej Rojek. Dr. Karski will join the distinguished company of Lech Wałęsa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela, who have also been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In the midst of World War II, Jan Karski was dispatched by the Polish Underground to inform the West about the atrocities being committed by the Nazis in occupied Poland – including the ongoing slaughter of the entire Jewish population – and to seek their intervention. Karski spoke with British and American officials, including President Roosevelt, giving his eyewitness accounts. He later became a professor at Georgetown University, educating generations of students about the dangers of staying silent in the face of tyranny and danger.
The Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign was established in April, 2011, as part of a worldwide effort initiated by the Polish History Museum in Warsaw. Ewa Wierzynska, senior advisor for international cooperation at the museum, has been working with groups in several countries to educate them about Karski’s legacy. “Jan Karski – who has been called ‘one man who tried to stop the Holocaust’ – was born in Poland, became a naturalized American and later, an honorary citizen of Israel.” said Mrs. Wierzynska. “His story has great character-forming power. He is truly Humanity’s Hero.”
Polish Consul General in New York Ewa Junczyk- Ziomecka – who when she learned of the news was at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio where Karski received an honorary doctorate in 1999 – remarked: “The message and the power of Karski’s legacy should be listened to in a world filled with conflict. Karski’s war-time courage and his unmatched empathy is a permanent legacy for humanity.”
Polish Ambassador to the United States Robert Kupiecki said, “We are grateful to President Obama for honoring a Pole who demonstrated great courage and risked so much to expose one of humankind’s greatest crimes. He is a beacon of light in an era of darkness.”
The Jan Karski Curriculum Study Initiative
An interesting study has been done to see to what extent information about Jan Karski is being used in University and other educational settings. The study was conducted by Jan Karski Centennial Campaign Intern Holly Robertson and Nina Solarz, a retired executive and volunteer to the Campaign. This is just one step in researching the best ways to incorporate the lessons that Karski teaches us and reach young people with messages of tolerance and understanding.
Read the study here: www.jankarski.net/pliki_user/File/Karski report, Georgetown and Brandeis conclusions.doc
Washington, New York Meetings Advance Campaign
Jan Karski US Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska recently met with Jacek Nowakowski, chief of Arts & Artifacts & Curatorial Affairs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington, DC to discuss points of cooperation on the Karski Campaign. Steering Committee members Robert L. Billingsley and Andrzej Rojek, along with Ms. Urbanska, briefed Ambassador Robert Kupiecki at the Polish Embassy in Washington on Campaign progress.
In New York, Ms. Urbanska attended a VIP reception for Israeli President Shimon Peres at the 92nd Street Y where she met Alison Gardy, director of International Relations at the Y, and Steering Committee member Alicia Belzberg.
At a special event for the soon-to-be-opened Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Poland, held at the Polish Consulate in New York on March 1, Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka presided over an evening in which donors, stakeholders and a large contingent from Poland were updated about the museum’s exhibitions and importance on the world stage. Professor Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett made a powerful presentation about the rich, 1,000-year history of Jews in Poland and how the new museum will celebrate and re-create this legacy.
Among the many moving speakers was Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Steering Committee member Sigmund Rolat, who said: “Our museum is the only such museum in the world – the only such history in the history of the world, and I’m not exaggerating!” Piotr Wislicki, President of the board of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland; Marian Turski, Chairman of the Council of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews; Agnieszka Rudzinska, Acting Director of the Museum; Danny Spungen of the Florence and Laurence Spungen Family Foundation; Lea Wolinetz representing the Czestochowa Jewish association; and Jerzy Warman, a member of the Steering Committee of the North American Council, were among the many distinguished guests.
Photos below, left to right: Wanda Urbanska & Jacek Nowakowski; Robert L. Billingsley, Wanda Urbanska, Ambassador Kupiecki, Andrzej Rojek; Alicia Belzberg, Wanda Urbanska & Alison Gardy; (second row) Andrzej Rojek, Wanda Urbanska & Piotr Wislicki; Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka with Jerzy Warman; Lea Wolinetz & Danny Spungen
New Steering Committee Member Joins: Michal H. Mrozek
The Campaign is happy to announce that Michał H. Mrożek has joined the Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Steering Committee. Michał has a Georgetown University connection, like several other Committee members, as he is a Georgetown graduate, having earned both bachelor and master's degrees there. He has held high level positions in management consulting and finance in both the US and Poland. Currently, he is based in New York for Citibank, N.A. With his wealth of management and financial experience, he's bound to be a great addition to the Committee.
Polonia Reception Attended by Director and Steering Committee Member Rowny
Jan Karski US Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska, Steering Committee member Gen. Edward Rowny, and Webmaster Jane Robbins attended a reception in Washington, DC with many other Polish Americans. The reception honored Rep. Marcy Kaptur, one of Polonia’s best friends in Congress. Rep. Kaptur was one of the lead sponsors in getting recognition for Jan Karski and was a signer on the letter sent to the White House requesting that Jan Karski receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
There was a lively discussion among the audience about how to raise the profile of Polish-American causes. Rep. Kaptur talked about an opportunity in Poland for an American monument or other symbol of Polish-American friendship. In attendance were Katyn author Allen Paul, Karski friend and neighbor Walter (Wladyslaw) Zachariasiewicz, and Karski student Susanne Lotarski, who is now President, Washington Metropolitan Area Division, of the Polish American Congress, among many others.
Photos below, left to right: Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Wanda Urbanska and Allen Paul; Rep. Kaptur and Walter Zachariasiewicz; Gen. Rowny and Walter Zachariasiewicz
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Two New Steering Committee Members Announced
Two distinguished gentlemen have joined the Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign as Steering Committee members.
General Edward Rowny is a well-known Polish American who was formerly the Strategic Arms Talks negotiator for two Presidents, and also has been involved in philanthropic causes for many years. He founded the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Scholarship Fund so that Polish students can study in the United States.
Przemysław Krych is an extremely successful Polish financier and is currently Managing Partner of Cornerstone Partners and Griffin Group. His expertise extends to the private equity and real estate fund management businesses. Prior to starting his own firm, he held senior positions in major banks and equity funds.
For more details on either new Committee member, turn to the About Us tab on this website, http://www.jankarski.net/1/623/About+Us.html.
US Campaign Meets with Polish Senate and Other Diplomats in Warsaw
Karski’s legacy is “as important for the 21st century as it was for the 20th” – US Ambassador Lee Feinstein
Warsaw, Poland - A presentation about the Jan Karski International Centennial Campaign before a group of Polish Senators and leading political and cultural figures was the high point of a recent four-trip to Warsaw for Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska. On Feb. 14, Ms. Urbanska, along with former Foreign Affairs Minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld, US Ambassador Lee Feinstein, Robert Kostro, director of the Polish History Museum, Ewa Wierzynska, senior advisor for international cooperation of the Polish History Museum, and Campaign Steering Committee Member Andrzej Rojek, presented the steps leading to Karski’s 2014 Centennial to members of the Emigration Affairs and Contacts with Poles Abroad committees of the Polish Senate. Senators Bogdan Klich and Barbara Borys-Damiecka presided over the 90- minute session.
Jan Karski is “a hero for three communities (Poland, America and Israel),” said Minister Rotfeld. “What distinguished Jan Karski were his deeds… his conscience,” he added. “Those who have the courage to speak their mind – that is characteristic of Jan Karski. Jan Karski spoke from the bottom of his heart, and was better prepared for his mission than anyone else.” There should be no politics that exclude conscience, the elder statesman said.
Ambassador Feinstein, who opened his remarks in Polish, said that Karski’s legacy “is as important for the 21st century as it was for the 20th.” Feinstein, who studied law at Georgetown University where Karski taught, has “heard many stories about the countless lives he touched during his time in the US…. Even in my own career… I recognize Karski’s influence, and the work he did to make sure that we never forget the lessons of the Holocaust.” (Read his remarks in their entirety: Ambassador Feinstein's remarks on Jan Karski's legacy at the Polish ... )
Senator Klich, deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee, suggested the reach of the Karski campaign be expanded into the European Union, with, for instance, a Karski exhibition in Brussels.
Prior to the Senate presentation, Undersecretary of State Beata Stelmach hosted the Karski Campaign advocates for a planning meeting which included Mariusz Brymora, deputy director of Public and Cultural Diplomacy, and Krzysztof Kopytko, head of Programs and Projects for the Public and Cultural Diplomacy Department. In advance of the Senate meeting, Mrs. Wierzynska and Ms. Urbanska also met with Ambassador Feinstein to strategize and discuss future points of cooperation. Ms. Urbanska also met with Aleksandra Lubicz, deputy director for development and communication for the European Academy of Diplomacy, a new Karski Centennial Campaign partner.
Photos below, first row, left to right: Wanda Urbanska, US Ambassador Lee Feinstein, Ewa Wierzynska, and Lisa Helling at the Embassy; Minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Wanda Urbanska, Robert Kostro and Senator Bogdan Klich after the presentation; Robert Kostro & Andrzej Rojek; second row, left to right: Ewa Wierzynska, Wanda Urbanska, and Undersecretary of State Beata Stelmach outside the Karski Room; Ewa Wierzynska, Artur Kozlowski, Director of the Polish Communities Abroad Office, and Wanda Urbanska; Wanda Urbanska with Aleksandra Lubicz, Deputy Director for Development & Communication at the European Academy of Diplomacy, Warsaw
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The Polish American Congress is new Campaign Partner
Frank J. Spula, President of the Polish American Congress, has announced support for the Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign. The Polish American Congress is a federation of more than 3,000 Polish American organizations, clubs, and veterans’ groups. In the aggregate, there are more than one million members of the PAC nationally. The organization maintains offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Among its goals is promoting knowledge about Polish Americans and the Polish American community, its history, accomplishments and contributions.
New York Meetings Advance Karski Campaign
Jan Karski U.S. Centennial Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska recently returned from a week in New York City where she and her partners mapped out Campaign strategy for 2012. On Jan. 17, Ms. Urbanska met with Steering Committee member Bob Billingsley and Ewa Wierzynska of the Polish History Museum in Warsaw, to discuss the Georgetown University-Karski Centennial Campaign partnership. Polish Cultural Institute Director Jerzy Onuch, along with his wife Mirka Onuch, hosted a party at his home to celebrate "In Darkness," Agnieszka Holland's latest film, an Oscar contender, which had been screened at the Museum of the Moving Image the night before. Ms. Holland was widely celebrated, with many toasts offered in her honor.
New York's Polish Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, together with Mrs. Wierzynska and Ms. Urbanska, met with Sol Adler, executive director of the 92nd St. Y, to discuss working with this legendary cultural institution to introduce a Karski program. Mrs. Wierzynska and Ms. Urbanska also met with Alex Storozynski, executive director of the Kosciuszko Foundation, along with Steering Committee members Alicia Belzberg and Andrzej Rojek, and Campaign supporter Michal Mrozek. The Consul General hosted a meeting at the Polish Consulate for the New York Director of Facing History, Peter Nelson, and Patrycja Slawuta, to plan a fall educators' workshop in New York focused on Karski and the Polish Underground. Ms. Urbanska also dined with Frank Milewski and Chet Szarejko of the Downstate Division of the Polish American Congress, who offered their endorsement of the Campaign.
As a finale to a busy and productive week in the city, Ms. Urbanska participated in the American Jewish Committee's Board of Governors' dinner meeting on Sunday, Jan. 22 at the Polish Consulate. This elegant event was hosted by the ever-gracious and articulate Consul General Junczyk-Ziomecka who spoke on Polish-Jewish relations. Ms. Urbanska briefed the governors about the progress about the Campaign and saluted AJC's leadership in advancing improved relations between the Polish and Jewish communities worldwide. After the dinner, AJC Executive Director David Harris put on his hat as a Karski Campaign Steering Committee member and was seen giving out trifold brochures to departing guests.
Photos below, first row, left to right: Ewa Wierzynska and Wanda Urbanska flank businessman Michal Mrozek; Director Agnieszka Holland, at center, is toasted for In Darkness at the home of Jerzy Onuch; Wanda Urbanska, at left, and Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, at right, celebrate the Karski Campaign at the AJC board of Governors dinner in New York City, with Roger Bernstein and David Harris, AJC executive director, standing in the center; second row: Consul General Junczyk-Ziomecka discusses an upcoming Karski educators' workshop with Facing History New York director Peter Nelson; Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, Sol Adler, executive director of the 92nd Street Y, Wanda Urbanska and Ewa Wierzynska of the Polish History Museum in Warsaw; Wanda Urbanska is flanked by two leaders of the Polish American Congress Downstate NY Division, on left, Chet Szarejko, and right, Frank Milewski.
The Campaign featured in AIPC's "Good News" newsletter
The American Institute of Polish Culture, which is located in Miami, Florida, is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. The founder of this wonderful organization is Lady Blanka A. Rosenstiel.
US Campaign Director Meets with Directors of The Jan Karski Institute
Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska held a very productive meeting this week with Kaya Ploss, Executive Director of the Jan Karski Institute, and Waldemar Izdebski, Program Director of the Institute. They discussed numerous ways to work closely together in the future on the different educational initiatives of the Campaign, including plans to reprint Karski's book "Story of a Secret State" in the US. Mrs. Ploss also shared many fascinating antecdotes about her 32-year friendship with Professor Karski.
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Kaya Ploss with Jan Karski
Kaya Ploss, Waldemar Izdebski, Wanda Urbanska
THANK YOU TO THESE PRINCIPLED PUBLIC SERVANTS!
The Jan Karski U.S. Centennial Campaign is delighted to acknowledge the 12 United States Senators and 68 United States Representatives who signed letters to President Obama supporting the nomination of the late Jan Karski for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. By reaching out to the President, the following elected officials have endorsed the qualities that Karski embraced and embodied: courage, tolerance and freedom.
A copy of the actual letter that went to the President is attached here: www.jankarski.net/pliki_user/File/House Dear Colleague letter 12_15_11 Jan Karski.pdf Below is the list of supportive Senators and Congressional Representatives:
US SENATE
Senator Richard Blumenthal
Senator Richard Burr +
Senator Ben Cardin
Senator Bob Casey
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Senator Herb Kohl
Senator Carl Levin
Senator Joe Lieberman
Senator Dick Lugar
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Senator Chuck Schumer
Senator Debbie Stabenow
US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Honorable Steve Austria
The Honorable Tammy Baldwin
The Honorable Howard Berman
The Honorable Earl Blumenauer
The Honorable Robert Brady
The Honorable Judy Chu
The Honorable David Cicilline
The Honorable Hansen Clarke
The Honorable Steve Cohen
The Honorable Gerry Connolly
The Honorable Joe Courtney +
The Honorable Jerry Costello
The Honorable Mark Critz
The Honorable Henry Cuellar
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
The Honorable Ted Deutch
The Honorable Lloyd Doggett
The Honorable John Dingell
The Honorable Keith Ellison
The Honorable Eliot Engel
The Honorable Anna Eshoo
The Honorable Sam Farr
The Honorable Bob Filner
The Honorable Elton Gallegly
The Honorable John Garamendi
The Honorable Luis Gutierrez
The Honorable Janice Hahn
The Honorable Alcee Hastings
The Honorable Nan Hayworth
The Honorable Martin Heinrich
The Honorable Brian Higgins
The Honorable Maurice Hinchey
The Honorable Mazie Hirono
The Honorable Eleanor Holmes-Norton
The Honorable Rush Holt
The Honorable Steve Israel
The Honorable Sheila Jackson-Lee
The Honorable Hank Johnson +
The Honorable Marcy Kaptur
The Honorable Mike Kelly
The Honorable Ron Kind
The Honorable Sandy Levin
The Honorable Dan Lipinski*
The Honorable Nita Lowey*
The Honorable James McGovern
The Honorable Brad Miller
The Honorable Gwen Moore
The Honorable Jim Moran
The Honorable Mick Mulvaney
The Honorable Bill Pascrell, Jr.
The Honorable Gary Peters
The Honorable David Price
The Honorable Mike Quigley
The Honorable Charles Rangel
The Honorable Laura Richardson
The Honorable Tom Rooney
The Honorable Peter Roskam
The Honorable Steven Rothman
The Honorable Lucille Roybal-Allard
The Honorable Tim Ryan
The Honorable Jan Schakowsky
The Honorable Adam Schiff
The Honorable Allyson Schwartz
The Honorable Brad Sherman
The Honorable Paul Tonko
The Honorable Henry Waxman
The Honorable Allen West
The Honorable Frederica Wilson
* Reps Lowey and Lipinski co-authored the “Dear Colleague” letter that circulated and was signed by 64 other Representatives.
+ Rep. Hank Johnson and Rep. Joe Courtney submitted their own letters of support to President Obama. Senator Richard Burr sent his own letter to the President independently.
Georgetown Conference Discusses Polish-Jewish Relations
Submission Sent to White House for Presidential Medal
Jan Karski's name has been placed in nomination at the White House for the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign. Over the past few days, we managed to obtain 66 signatures from Members of the House as well as letters and sign-ons from 11 US Senators in support of President Obama awarding this posthumous designation to Professor Karski.
Please take a moment to call the White House at 202.456.1111 to recommend that the President confer this long-overdue honor on Karski. If the line is busy, keep trying. If you're put on hold, please wait your turn. Make your request brief and positive, simply mentioning Karski's heroic actions in World War II and his lifelong testimony for truth as reasons for his winning this highest honor. Status updates will be posted on this webpage as well as our Facebook page: JanKarskiSupporters@groups.facebook.com .
PIASA Endorses Karski Campaign
The prestigious Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America has announced its support and endorsement of the Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign. They also applaud the educational and cultural efforts being done to bring Karski's work to increased prominence. See the attached letter from PIASA President Dr. M.B.B. Biskupski: www.jankarski.net/pliki_user/File/PIASA letter.jpg
New Steering Committee member, Romuald J. Poplawski of Chicago
The Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign is happy to welcome a new Steering Committee member, Romauld J. Poplawski. He is president of US Global Corporation and was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by former Polish President Lech Kaczynski for fostering Polish - US business relations.
For more biographical information about all of our accomplished Committee members, see the About Us page on our website, http://www.jankarski.net/1/623/About+Us.html.
Polish Independence Day Celebration Attended by US Director
Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska recently participated in the Polish Independence Day celebration at the Kosciuszko Foundation offices in Washington, DC.
See the Campaign's Facebook group (JanKarskiSupporters@groups.facebook.com) for a photo of Ms. Urbanska with Polish Ambassador Robert Kupiecki. Please join this Facebook group to learn the latest news about the Campaign; you can also click on the FB logo at the bottom of the screen. Other photos are below.
Left photo includes Dr. Jolanta .JPG)
Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, Director Centre
for Holocaust Studies, Jagiellonian
University, Ms. Urbanska, and Campaign
Intern Holly Robertson
Right photo shows Jan Karski
friend Walter (Wladyslaw)
Zachariasiewicz
American Jewish Committee Endorses Jan Karski Campaign
The American Jewish Committee has endorsed the Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign, noting their support of the Campaign's educational and cultural initiative to bring greater awareness to Karski's work and legacy. See the full letter, below.
www.jankarski.net/pliki_user/File/AJC - letter of endorsement.pdf
US Director Plans Campaign Strategy in New York
US Director Wanda Urbanska recently made a three-day trip to New York City where she met with steering committee members, campaign donors
and advisers, including Anthony Paduano, Robert Billingsley, Andrzej Rojek, and Alicia Belzberg. American Jewish Committee Executive Director David
Harris, also a member of the steering committee, provided AJC's full-fledged endorsement to the campaign. At the Kosciuszko Foundation, Ms. Urbanska
met with Polish Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka and steering committee member Alex Storozynski, who posed for a photo beneath a line drawing
donated by Jan Karski to the Kosciuszko Foundation. She also met with Peter Nelson, director of Facing History, to plan an upcoming seminar on Karski's
legacy and the public image of Poles.
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Anthony Paduano, Robert Billingsley, Andrzej Rojek and Ms. Urbanska lunch at the Metropolitan Club
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AJC Executive Director David Harris strategizes with Ms. Urbanska
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Alex Storozynski and Polish Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka under a Karski-donated drawing
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Ms. Urbanska & Alicia Belzberg plan campaign over fair-trade coffee
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Kosciuszko Foundation Event Attended by Committee Members and Director
Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Steering Committee Member Andrzej Rojek and US Director Wanda Urbanska attended an event to honor Kaya Ploss, a friend of Jan Karski. Ms. Ploss supported Karski's work and is the executive director of the Jan Karski Institute. Steering Committee member Alex Storozynski, in his role as executive director of the Kosciuszko Foundation, introduced Ms. Ploss and lauded her contributions.
Among many other notable attendees was Leonard J. Baldyga of the Sabre Foundation and board member of PIASA, along with world-famous architect Julian Kulski. The event was held at the Kosciuszko Foundation offices in Washington, DC.
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Jane Moretz Edmisten, Ploss, Wanda Urbanska Marta Wryk Ploss with Andrzej Rojek
The Tocqueville Forum at Georgetown Features Karski Biographer
Two Jan Karski Centennial Campaign Steering Committee members attended the The Tocqueville Forum at Georgetown University to hear from Karski's biographer, E. Thomas Wood, co-author of "Karski: How One Man Tried to Stop the Holocaust." Wood showed a short film about Karski and spoke about his experience interviewing Karski in preparation for the book. He also toured German cities with Karski for the German edition.
Steering Committee members Andrzej Rojek and Alex Storozynski, along with website designer Jane Robbins and Witold Dzielski from the Polish Embassy joined a large group of former Karski students and friends at the event.
One memorable quote that Wood mentioned was that Karski often ended their meetings with the phrase "I am a Polish cavalier and can walk on my own," as he was getting older and less steady on his feet. He said that Karski suffered near constant pain from arthritis in his later years, but remarkably was able to quit smoking after 60 years.
He also stated that Mariusz Handzlik, the young Polish diplomat with whom Karski was playing chess at the time of his death in July 2000, subsequently perished in the April 2010 plane crash at Smolensk that also killed Poland's President Lech Kaczynski.
The Tocqueville Forum was founded by Georgetown Professor Patrick Deneen to cultivate civic knowledge and promote inquiry. An audio tape of the event will be posted on www.tocquevilleforum.org at a future date.
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Author Thomas Wood and Steering Committee member Alex Storozynski
Rep. Chris Smith Commemorates Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the Helsinki Commission and Co-Chair of the Poland Caucus, commemorated the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in his recent speech, as recorded in the Congressional Record: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r112:1:./temp/~r112jVsMzX::
Blog from New Committee Member David Harris is a Tribute to Karski
David Harris, the newest Jan Karski Centennial Steering Committee member, is the Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee and Senior Associate of St. Antony's College, Oxford University. His powerful blog about Jan Karski describes the impact of Karski's actions and words. Read it at: http://blogs.jpost.com/content/ode-jan-karski
Blog Publicizes Jan Karski Campaign
The blog "A Polish Son" published by Jan Karski US Centennial Steering Committee member Leonard Kniffel publicizes the Campaign and its US Director. Read it here: http://polishson.com/?p=1154 .
US Campaign Director Meets Karski Photographer
US Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska met former Karski student and photographer Carol Harrison at her home in Virginia this week. Carol took many well-known photos of Dr. Karski as an older man. Carol was formerly a student of Karski's at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, and her mother Margaret Harrison also worked at Georgetown and knew Karski well.
Wanda Urbanska and Carol Harrison with
a previously unpublished photo of Karski,
inscribed to Harrison's daughter "To Olivia with
love and best wishes, Jan Karski 9/9/1998"
US Director Attends Raoul Wallenberg Lunch at US Capitol
Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska attended the Raoul Wallenberg Gold Medal Commencement Luncheon at the US Capitol. The lunch was attended by many political figures and supporters of this effort. See the press release for more details: http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102316589723-134/Post+PR.pdf
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Participants at the Wallenberg lunch included Ezra
Friedlander, Wanda Urbanska and Zev Brenner
Georgetown University President Endorses Jan Karski Campaign
The Campaign has received a letter from John J. DeGioia, President of Georgetown University, congratulating the initiative shown by the Campaign about Prof. Karski, who taught at Georgetown for forty years. He states that "We appreciate and applaud your work to shine light on Jan Karski. Please keep us apprised about how the campaign is progressing and how we can assist with your efforts."
An updated copy of his letter is attached. www.jankarski.net/pliki_user/File/DeGioia Letter - FINAL - PRESIDENTIAL 11_16_11.pdf
Georgetown University Convocation Speech Invokes Prof. Karski
Georgetown University's 2011 Senior Convocation Speech cited Jan Karski as a universal inspiration and symbol of compassion. Read below.
Senior Convocation Remarks Georgetown University Loghman Fattahi May 19, 2011
The year is 1995. I am sitting on a big rock by the road to our village, Zerdeh, in the mountains of Kurdistan in Iran. I am waiting for the bus that brings my dad home when he returns from visiting the nearest city to our village, Kerend.
In our village, my family’s livelihood depends on our herd of sheep and goats. In the cold winters, we live in the village; in the summers, we move up to the highlands to find good pasture. My dad is, in every sense, our family’s shepherd.
That day my dad does not come home. Iran’s government arrests and locks him away in solitary confinement.
Without my dad, I took on the responsibility of looking after our flock. I spent many days and nights with my granddad in the mountains shepherding the herd.
Life became hard for my family. We were robbed twice: the first time thieves stole 9 of our lambs and the second time they stole 14 of our sheep. These thefts made life harder, but even harder was our fear that the government would execute my dad.
I remember one of my village friends casually remarking: “I guess your dad will be hanged!” My heart sank. My family always prayed for my dad.
My aunt visited every government official she could find, even visiting the officials' homes to ask their families for mercy.
After six months in solitary confinement, my dad was transferred to a prison. I vividly remember meeting him, clothed in his gray and white prisoner’s uniform.
As I hugged and kissed my dad, I felt how his captors had shown him no compassion.
In solitary confinement, his captors had punched him, beaten him with clubs, shocked him with electrical wires, and pierced his left foot with a nail.
His crime: advocating for the human rights of Kurds in Iran.
In 1998, a miracle happened. My dad fled from prison and escaped to Turkey. In Turkey, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees granted him political asylum. In 1999, he also arranged for my family to join him there.
On May 2nd 2000, we immigrated to the United States of America as political refugees. I celebrate May 2nd each year because it marks the beginning of a new life in freedom. On this May 2nd, I celebrated my 11th year in the United States.
I have spent four of those eleven years at Georgetown University. Georgetown has been my sanctuary; I have found that here COMPASSION is everywhere.
It is present when my classmates dedicate their time to mentor underserved children in the District of Columbia.
It is present in the celebration of our different beliefs as Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and all others.
It is present in the Jesuits’ commitment to "the promotion of justice."
And for me, it is also present in the statue of an old man sitting with a cane in one hand. Everyday, I watch him contemplate his game of chess by the pond between White‐Gravenor and the exit to P Street.
In my mind, this statue exemplifies the human capacity for COMPASSION—a feeling of empathy for strangers affirmed in the crucible of human suffering.
This is the statue of Professor Jan Karski, a man who witnessed the tragedy of the Holocaust. Jan Karski embodies the compassionate spirit of the men and women of Georgetown University.
During WWII, Jan Karski was a Polish resistance fighter who carried secret messages from occupied Poland to the exiled Polish government in London. In 1943, Karski presented his last message to the Polish and British prime ministers in London and to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States. The message informed these leaders about the merciless annihilation of the Jews as he had witnessed it in the Polish cities of Warsaw and Belzec.
In his memoir, Story of a Secret State, Professor Jan Karski describes what he saw during his secret visit to the Warsaw concentration camp in October 1942:
For apart from their skin, eyes, and voice there was nothing human left in these palpitating figures. Everywhere there was hunger, misery, the atrocious stench of decomposing bodies, the pitiful moans of dying children, the desperate cries and gasps of a people struggling for life against impossible odds.
Jan Karski risked his life to infiltrate the concentration camp at Warsaw in order to bear authentic witness to the suffering of these innocent men, women, and children.
Professor Karski adds: “The images of what I saw…are…my permanent possessions.”
Learning about Jan Karski’s images takes me back to the image of my tortured dad in the prison, where his captors had shown him no empathy. In reflecting on the images of his life and my own, I have learned that compassion comes from within us.
In our lives, our captors may not show us compassion—they may even torture us—but we can choose to live life by a spirit of COMPASSION even in the midst of malice and suffering.
In the years to come, I will carry with me Jan Karski’s spirit of compassion— Georgetown’s spirit of compassion—especially for those moments when, representing our nation abroad, I may face images of malice and suffering.
I know before I leave the Hilltop this weekend, I will take a moment to say goodbye to Professor Karski, at least goodbye for a while. And I would like to invite you to find a moment to do the same. Walk by the statue, pause, study the old man's wise face, the broken game of chess he's playing, and think about what his compassion also could mean for you, and for your future.
US Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska Visits Poland
In August, Jan Karski US Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska and website designer Jane Robbins visited Poland. In Warsaw, they met with Polish History Museum partners Ms. Ewa Wierzyńska, Ms. Dorota Szkodzinska, and Mr. Robert Kostro to discuss Campaign strategy, website development and other crucial aspects of the Campaign that are either underway or in the planning stages. Meetings were held with the Director of the American Department at the Polish Foreign Ministry, Mr. Piotr Ogrodzinski, and his colleague Ms. Elzbieta Frister, and at the American Embassy with Mr. Craig Conway, Mr. Kevin Kabumoto and Mr. Frankie Sturm.
During a welcome reception in Warsaw at the Boutique B&B on Smolna Street, Campaign principals were introduced to 40 influential Polish and international guests, including Polish Chief Ombudsman Irena Lipowicz, Polish Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, Ms. Stefanie Seltzer of the Federation of Child Survivors of the Holocaust, Dr. Katarzyna Pisarska, director of the European Academy of Diplomacy, Austrian Ambassador Ruth Pearce and Polish Senator Barbara Borys-Damiecka.
Ms. Urbanska also attended the 'Irena Sendlerowa Award For Improving the World' ceremony; the top award was presented to Ms. Grazyna Ferenc, a history teacher in Kety and a tour guide at the National Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Additionally, Ms. Urbanska and Ms. Robbins visited the city of Lodz - Jan Karski's birthplace and hometown - where they met with Curators of the Museum of the City of Lodz Maja Jakobczyk and Cezary Pawlak who conducted a private tour of the Jan Karski room in the Museum.
Wanda Urbanska meets with Ewa Wierzynska of the Polish History Museum
Robert Kostro of the Polish History Museum shows Wanda the Museum prototype
Reception in Warsaw
Lodz Museum Curators Maja Jakobczyk and Cezary Pawlak with Wanda Urbanska, with Jan Karski portrait
Inaugural Dinner for Karski US Centennial Campaign
"Karski Karma": The Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Kicks off with Inaugural Dinner at the Polish Consulate
New York – Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka hosted a group of Georgetown University alumni, Polish and Jewish community leaders and a representative of the Polish History Museum for dinner on May 31 at the Polish Consulate in New York City to kick off a three-year campaign to honor the late Jan Karski. Professor Karski, who died in 2000 at age 86, was a courier of the Polish Underground in Nazi German-occupied Poland during World War II and was the first credible witness to inform the Allies about the Holocaust when there was still time to act.
The goal of the campaign is to focus attention on a great humanitarian whose 100th birthday is approaching in April 2014. The culmination of the US campaign is to honor Karski – a native of Poland, a naturalized American and an honorary citizen of Israel – with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor – in recognition of his lifetime achievement.
"We want to shine light on this remarkable man of integrity, action and courage," said Andrzej Rojek, one of the founding members of the Jan Karski US Centennial Committee. "We call him "Humanity"s hero." Karski, who was a professor at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service for 40 years from 1953 until his retirement in 1992, was remembered by former Georgetown President Father Leo J. O'Donovan, S.J., his students and friends.
"This was a remarkable man, a devout Roman Catholic who never talked about his personal sacrifices and the courage with which he acted as a courier," said Fr. O'Donovan. "After he lost everything in the war, including his country, Georgetown became his home."
After the elegant, kick-off dinner at the Consulate, which is housed in the French Baroque De Lamar Mansion at the aptly named Jan Karski Corner at Madison Avenue and 37th Street, David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), said that Karski was a hero of the Jewish people: "In a time when heroes are few and far between, Karski's example shines." Harris met and befriended Karski in the 1980s at Jewish-Polish encounters. After Karski's death, the AJC established an award named for Karski. "Truth be told, we have a hard time finding people on whom we can confer this honor, who rise to his level of moral and physical courage and can, if you will, stand next to him," Harris noted.
Holocaust survivor Sigmund Rolat, a founding donor for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, said that had Jews like himself who worked in forced labor camps during World War II known about the existence of Jan Karski, "it would have made all the difference. Just knowing that there was a man out speaking for us – someone who cared about us enough to put his life on the line," he said, "could have helped us get through that brutal time. But even learning about Karski much later, as I did, can help remind us of strong historic bonds between Polish Christians and Polish Jews. Jan Karski leads us to a better future."
"In Poland, Karski's place in the national pantheon is secure but we need to constantly educate young people about what he stood for," said Ewa Wierzynska, leader of the Jan Karski Unfinished Mission Program at the Polish History Museum. "Fortunately, his story is so incredibly capitivating and he left us such powerful testimonies on tape and in print, that we have a veritable treasure trove."
Beyond the Medal, the Karski campaign includes cultural, and educational activities introducing his work and life into history and Holocaust curriculums in the US. "I like calling it "Karski karma," said Robert Billingsley, one of the founding members of the committee who was also a student of Karski's in the 1960s. "Whenever I mention Karski's name, it carries a kind of magic with it and doors open."
In addition to Billingsley, Wierzynska, Rojek, Rolat and Consul General Junczyk-Ziomecka, founding members of the Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign include Wanda Urbanska, campaign director; Michael Berkowicz, treasurer of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and Alex Storozynski, president and executive director of Kosciuszko Foundation.
"Jan Karski would have been proud of this diverse gathering of Poles, Americans, Christians and Jews," said Consul General Junczyk-Ziomecka, "working together to foster the values of individual responsibility and human solidarity."
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For more information about the campaign or to make a contribution, please go to www.jankarski.net or email info@jankarski.net, attention: Wanda Urbanska.
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