The Secret State Series #1
Karski was a brilliant young diplomat when war broke out in 1939 with Hitler's invasion of Poland. Taken prisoner by the Soviet Red Army, which had simultaneously invaded from the East, Karski narrowly escaped the subsequent Katyn Forest Massacre. He became a member of the Polish Underground, the most significant resistance movement in occupied Europe, acting as a liaison and courier between the Underground and the Polish government-in-exile. He was twice smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto, and entered the Nazi's Izbica transit camp disguised as a guard, witnessing first-hand the horrors of the Holocaust.
Karski's courage and testimony, conveyed in a breathtaking manner in Story of a Secret State, offer the narrative of one of the world's greatest eyewitnesses and an inspiration for all of humanity, emboldening each of us to rise to the challenge of standing up against evil and for human rights. This definitive edition—which includes a foreword by Madeleine Albright, a biographical essay by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, an afterword by Zbigniew Brzezinski, previously unpublished photos, notes, further reading, and a glossary—is an apt legacy for this hero of conscience during the most fraught and fragile moment in modern history.
Jan Karski was born in ód , Poland, in 1914.
He received a degree in Law and Diplomatic Science in 1935 and served as a liaison officer of the Polish Underground during World War II. He carried the first eyewitness report of the Holocaust to a mostly unbelieving West, meeting with President Roosevelt in 1943 to plead for Allied intervention. Story of a Secret State was originally published in 1944, becoming a bestseller and Book of the Month Club selection. After the war, Karski earned his PhD at Georgetown University, where he served as a distinguished professor in the School of Foreign Service for forty years. He died in Washington, DC, in 2000. Karski has been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. In 2012, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by our President.
"His wartime saga as officer, as Soviet prisoner, as escapee, in the hands of the Gestapo, and as a Polish Underground activist and courier, is beyond remarkable. In a world today where words such as 'courage' and 'heroism' have been so overused—applied freely from sports to entertainment to politics as to be rendered practically meaningless—Jan Karski was the rare human being who embodied both."
"In the words of James Russell Lowell's rousing hymn:
'Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side.' Perhaps more than most of us, Jan Karski faced such a choice in the starkest of possible terms, and made his decision as courageously as one could. . . . Jan Karski was a patriot and a truth teller; may his words always be read and his legacy never forgotten."Secret State is an indispensable and compelling historical document of World War II and the Holocaust, written by a supremely courageous humanitarian."
The Secret State Series #1:
The Underground by Jan Karski 1944 Highlights and excerpts by PL Sturgis:
Pro Script: “I do not pretend to have given an exhaustive picture of the Polish Underground, its organization, and its activities. Because of our methods I believe there is no one today who could give an all embracing recital. This could be possible only after the war with the aid of information yet to be gathered and checked. This is purely a personal story, my story. I have tried to recall everything I have experienced, to tell about my own activities and to recount the deeds of all those with whom I had actual contact.
Poland’s underground State, to which I belonged, was under the authority of the Polish Government in London. I know that, besides this organization, there were other elements carrying on their activities under the direction or the influence of Moscow. Because of my sincere intention to describe only my personal experience, their activities could not possibly be included in my story. Being the First active Member of the Polish Underground in the fortunate position to publish some aspects of its story, I hope that it will encourage others to relate their experiences, and that out of such narratives the free people all over the world will be able to form an objective opinion as to how the Polish people reacted during the years of German concept. Jan Karski:
Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #1:
Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #1:
“The Underground”
Bite #13,Marching to our Destination:
by Jan Karski:
On the fifth day the train stopped at an unusual hour. we knew that we had reached a destination of some sort. The doors were unlocked and the guards on the outside ordered us to step down and line up 8 in a row. We jumped out and found ourselves in a poor little village not large enough to have proper buildings for its railroad station. It had only a platform to serve it’s purpose. A few small scattered houses constituted the entire village. We lined up shivering in the autumn wind. It was a dismal gray day without sun or color of any kind. At some distance from us loitered a few specimens of the local population....poor, suspicious, hostile “moujiks.”
The men around me shivered and made themselves as small as possible in their light summer uniforms. Many had caught colds and they sneezed, coughed and sniffled continually. They looked almost too weak to stand the buffets of the wind. Their faces were pale and downcast. As though it had been their most precious treasure, each one of us clutched a little ragged bundle holding a few indispensable items which contained the rarest provisions...a shirt; socks; a pen knife...etc. They were all we owned in the whole world.
From the moment we got down from the freight car and throughout my entire stay in Russia, there was only one important thought and one important word in my consciousness. “Escape!” I felt homesick, lost, and abandoned by my Providence and absolutely determined to get back to Poland to help the Army which I pictured, despite everything, as still in active combat revenging itself for the first fearful bombardment at Oswiecim. The order to march was given. Grinding slowly uphill over the bleak terrain we discussed our situation.
The older men, as usual, showed more fortitude and endured their lot with a dignified fatalism. we, the younger complained, wined, cursed, plotted our rebellion, and considered our chances for escape. The march lasted several hours with our spirits sinking slowly away from the heightened state our talk of rebellion and escape had induced.
(to be continued) ....
(To be continued )
Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #1
by Jan Karski 1944 :
“From The Secret State”
#15) Hazardous Possibilities:
#16) Exchanged and Escaped:
#17) Under German Control:
#18) Crossing over the Bridge:
#19) Another Two Day Journey:
#20) Insane Brutality:
#21) Three Robust Men:
#22) Transported for Forced Labor:
#23) Now or Never:
#24) To the Citizens of Poland:
#25) Risking Escape:
#26) Searching for Shelter:
#27) The Polish Patriot:
#28) Priceless Hospitality:
#29) Shocking News:
#30) No Longer a Poland 1944:
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To be Continued in the Next Daily Bites of “The Secret State Series #1”
Stand Up To Government Corruption and Hypocrisy
NEVER FORGET THE SACRIFICES
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