The Secret State Series #7
Story of a Secret State stands as one of the most poignant and inspiring memoirs of World War II and the Holocaust. With elements of a spy thriller, documenting his experiences in the Polish Underground, and as one of the first accounts of the systematic slaughter of the Jews by the German Nazis, this volume is a remarkable testimony of one man's courage and a nation's struggle for resistance against overwhelming oppression.
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Albright, a biographical essay by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, an afterword by Zbigniew Brzezinski, previously unpublished photos, notes, further reading, and a glossary—is an apt legacy for this hero of conscience during the most fraught and fragile moment in modern history.
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."
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."
"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 #7:
The Secret State #7 “Retribution”
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slave
by Jan Karski: Highlights and excerpts by PL Sturgis:
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slave
by Jan Karski: Highlights and excerpts by PL Sturgis:
The Secret state Series 1: “The Underground” by Jan Karski:
Introduction: During my four and a half months absence while captured by the Russians and the the Germans, Conditions in Poland had changed considerably. The first few conversations made me conscious of the fact that the consolidation of the underground had practically been achieved. The movement had crystallized into the major organization: The coalition of the four largest political parties;
1) The Peasants
2) The Socialist
3) The Christian Labor
4) The Nationalist.
This was the official military organization which had been recognized by the government as a military unit enjoying equal rights with the Polish Army in France. The most important need for that third party was to unite and agree on a chief delegate. The government was not interested in the personality of the candidate, nor his political affiliation, nor was he to become involved in party representation. The government would confirm the appointment of any individual who possessed authority and had the confidence of the population.
(hmmmm? 1940 sounds familiar in 2017)
The Polish underground State to which Karski belonged was under the authority of the Polish government in London. He admitted that besides this organization there were other organizations carrying on their activities under the direct influence of Moscow. Being the first active member of the Polish Underground and in the fortunate position to publish some aspect of its story, he hoped that it would encourage others to relate their experiences and that out of such narratives the free people all over the world would be able to form an objective opinion as to how the Polish people reacted during the years of German conquest.
Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #7:
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slave
“Retribution”
Bites #1-5,The Spirit of Resistance:
#2) Never Forgotten: Never Forgiven:
#3) Confiscating Children:
#4) Ten Commandments of Resistance:
#5) Ferocious Retaliation:
by Jan Karski :
#1) The Spirit of Resistance:
The German occupation, contrary to the general belief, was not successful. At least not in its police aspect. The extension of the underground movement, not only in Poland, but in all the other occupied countries, showed only too clearly that the German police were impotent against an aroused spirit of resistance. The Gestapo, as we knew it in Poland, was a greatly overestimated organization. Not that it was to be disregarded or taken lightly, but because it was effective only through brutality, inhuman methods, and the advantages of sheer size and power. Far from being astute and clever, the personnel of the German police system were mainly stupid, arrogant louts, sadists, and criminals. the Gestapo, it was estimated, had more than 60,000 agents in Poland alone, backed by a huge army, yet they were never able to crush the elaborate organism of resistance we offered them and almost never broke through to its central agencies. But they did have methods for obstructing the will of the underground and to some extent, weakening its spirits. The most notorious of these methods was the principle of “collective responsibility.” This principle entailed the slaughter of hundreds of innocent men and women for each act of defiance or resistance. To continue our work with such an application of merciless, utterly cruel, methods required a tremendous effort to overcome the heart wrenching knowledge that each act could be followed by the murder of people we knew and loved.
#2) Never Forgotten: Never Forgiven:
The incredible brutality on the part of Germany will never be forgotten or forgiven: When our hands are freed we will take every opportunity to pay back those murderous hoodlums; the beasts and sadists of the gestapo, and the German administration in Poland, for all they did to us and the helpless Jewish people. There can not be a reign of justice in the world unless that band of degenerates pay before the people who endured their outrage. The principle of “collective responsibility” inflicted even greater hardships in the rural districts than in the cities. The urban leaders never knew exactly who would suffer for one of their acts. for example, if a Gestapo agent was shot they would know that every fifth or sixth man in jail in the same district would be shot. Most often it was not even known who would be shot in return. In the Provinces the Germans were more fiendish. In each village or small town a number of names were posted. These were the names of prominent citizens whom the German administrators had selected to be on duty for a period of three or four months, ready to assume “collective responsibility.” These individuals were often personal friends of the men suspected to be working in the underground branches that functioned near the town or villages. Those in the organization knew that for every act of terror committed a certain number of hostages would be hung. But there was no alternative. The acts of the underground had to be performed.
#3) Confiscating Children:
In the latter half of 1942, the countryside suffered a new demoralizing blow! The Germans issued an order forbidding all marriages unless permission was granted by the authorities. In nearly all cases permission was withheld on the grounds that the couples were not suited to the program of raising the racial standard of the Polish people. complementary to this unprecedented edict, another order was issued to the effect that all illegal babies could be confiscated by the authorities and deported to orphanages in the Reich. When, as a consequence of the first decree, the villagers began to contract secret marriages, the second order of confiscating their children was brought into play. The children were often snatched right out of their parents arms. Often the mothers attempted to take their children to another village where they could be hidden. This was rarely successful. The Gestapos employed their resources to track down the mother and tear away the baby as though it were a puppy. Thousands of Polish children have been irretrievably lost to their parents in this way. No one is sure of exactly what did happen to them. But the peasants never yielded or buckled under to the Germans. Among others, the Peasants Party did invaluable work in education and guiding its constituents in their struggles. The “Ten Commandments of Resistance” issued by them became bywords on the tongues and in the hearts of their oppressed people.
#4) The Ten Commandments of resistance.
The Underground Press printed The Ten Commandments of Resistance. They were distributed in leaflets. The Peasants copied them and their children learned them by heart. As a matter of fact, they were not commandments, but practical recommendations concerning the Peasants daily life and struggle under the occupation of the Gestapo. 1. Fight stubbornly for Poland’s Independence: 2. In spite of persecution build up village organizations, be a military post, hearten the weak, temper the violent, weaken and overthrow the bloody rule of the Germans. 3. Establish a Poland of the People withn the Peasant Class foundation, without elite or dictatorship, establish a law abiding, freely elected administration, called to power by the people. 4. Demand righteous social reform, land for Peasants, work for everyone, economy based on cooperatives, nationalize mines and industries. 5. Serve your country honestly, for you are her nourisher. Sabotoge the occupants orders, supply your starving brethren with food in other cities. As a good christian, do not permit any exploitation of your brethren. 6. Be unyielding, cunning and wise when dealing with the occupant, faithful to your organization, keep your word, defend the nation’s dignity and keep organization secrets. 7. Be merciless to traitors, brand servility and social relations with the enemy; suppress unnecessary curiosity. 8. Choose as your leaders, strong, reliable, honest, tried people, ready for any sacrifice; do not allow yourself to be demoralized. 9. Demand severe punishment for the German’s aggression. Demand that they be crushed. 10. Have faith and tell your neighbor that though the war may be long and demand tremendous sacrifice, the day of ultimate victory, of truth and justice will come! An Independent Poland will be re established.
#5) Ferocious Retaliation:
The rural branches of the underground displayed a special brand of ferocity and ingenuity all their own. Indeed, in our desperation and outrage against the barbaric methods of the Germans, we used devices, of which we were almost ashamed but which we developed as purely rational answers to the appalling German process of exterminating our citizenry. In several places, for instance, we employed procurers (managers in government) to arrange encounters between German officers and prostitutes whom we knew had venereal infections. We allowed a great number of prisoners to be liberated from prison in 1939, and encouraged them to resume their professions of thieving, with the provision that they confine their activities to the Gestapo. Our authorities kept the records, names and dates of every prisoner in order to gain control of them. We promised their sentences would be reduced in proportion to their success against the Germans. Not one of these crimes were to be committed against a citizen of Poland. the people who did not live under German domination will never be able to gauge the strength of this hatred and will find it difficult to understand that every moral law, convention or restriction, on impulse simply disappeared. Nothing remained but the desperation of an animal caught in a trap!
(to be continued) ....
(To be continued )
Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #7
“Retribution”
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slave
#7) Testing True Patriots:
#8) Labor Camps:
#9) The ends Justifying the Means:
#10) War Bonds:
by Jan Karski 1944 :
“From The Secret State”
#1) The Spirit of Resistance:
#2) Never Forgotten: Never Forgiven:
#3) Confiscating Children:
#4) Ten Commandments of Resistance:
#5) Ferocious Retaliation:
#6) Germicide the Germans:
#7) Testing True Patriots:
#8) Labor Camps:
#9) The ends Justifying the Means:
#10) War Bonds:
#11) The Secret Press:
#12) The Hidden Printing Machines:
#13) The Hidden Printing Machines:
#14) Secret Codes:
#15) From the Closest to the Roof tops:
#16) The Printing Press Invasion:
#17) The Printing Press Invasions:
#18) The Three System of Selling:
#19) The Lord’s Prayer of the Polish Underground:
#20) Our Daily Bread:
#21) Forbidden Books:
#22) In Bold Print:
#23) Trees Hidden in the Forest:
#24) Hidden Archives:
#25) Tension at the Top:
#26) The Liaison Woman:
#27) Unforgettable Tragedies:
#28) Hidden Archives:
#29) All’s Fair in Love and War:
#30) Losing to Win:
LibertygroupFreedom
https://redd.it/6y400k
“Retribution”
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slave
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slave
"FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY"
Stand Up To Government Corruption and Hypocrisy
NEVER FORGET THE SACRIFICES
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