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Albright, a biographical essay by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, an afterword by Zbigniew Brzezinski, previously unpublished photos, notes, further reading, and a glossary—is an apt legacy for this hero of conscience during the most fraught and fragile moment in modern history.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 #6-10,Germicide the Germans:
#7) Testing True Patriots:
#8) Labor Camps:
#9) The ends Justifying the Means:
#10) War Bonds:
by Jan Karski :
#6) Germicide the Germans:
We fought back by every conceivable means against the enemy determined to destroy us. Poland snarled and clawed at its oppressors like a wounded cat. We developed some real experts in revenge. I remember a man who came from the Province of Poznan and spoke German fluently. Before the war he traded in pigs. During the war the region from which he came endured the most atrocious suffering under the domination of the Germans. In Warsaw he became one of the many specialists in paying back the Germans with their own coin. To spread contagious diseases was his favorite activity. he carried on his person an astounding collection of every type of lethal agent. He had an attractive, specially constructed little box in which were housed lice that carried microbes, typhoid bearing germs and others. I was so repelled at that notion that I forbore to gather more specific information but his methods were well known among us. He would enter bars and enter into conversations with German soldiers and drink with them but he never let the drinking interfere with his objective methods. At the proper moment he would drop a loose bearing typhoid germ behind the collar of his German---”friend”---. Also he would introduce them to prostitutes whom he knew had venereal diseases. He would drop germs into their drinks... He became known as “The Walking Germ” and not one of his contacts ever escaped.
We fought back by every conceivable means against the enemy determined to destroy us. Poland snarled and clawed at its oppressors like a wounded cat. We developed some real experts in revenge. I remember a man who came from the Province of Poznan and spoke German fluently. Before the war he traded in pigs. During the war the region from which he came endured the most atrocious suffering under the domination of the Germans. In Warsaw he became one of the many specialists in paying back the Germans with their own coin. To spread contagious diseases was his favorite activity. he carried on his person an astounding collection of every type of lethal agent. He had an attractive, specially constructed little box in which were housed lice that carried microbes, typhoid bearing germs and others. I was so repelled at that notion that I forbore to gather more specific information but his methods were well known among us. He would enter bars and enter into conversations with German soldiers and drink with them but he never let the drinking interfere with his objective methods. At the proper moment he would drop a loose bearing typhoid germ behind the collar of his German---”friend”---. Also he would introduce them to prostitutes whom he knew had venereal diseases. He would drop germs into their drinks... He became known as “The Walking Germ” and not one of his contacts ever escaped.
#7) Testing True Patriots:
We had many proofs of the people’s obedience and trust in us in the underground. A typical order that was issued to test the discipline and confidence of the Polish people was the one forbidding the reading of the German newspapers printed in Polish. The Delegate knew that it would be impossible to forbid the people from reading these papers completely. Curiosity and craving for news is just too deep to overcome. The order was limited to certain periods on Fridays. On that day the Polish people were instructed to abstain from purchasing a single copy of Nazi newspapers. We were soon able to see the results of this order. The Friday edition of the German newspaper had to be drastically curtailed all over Poland. ...In Warsaw, Cracow, Lwow, and Wilno...it became known that a person seen buying a newspaper on Friday was liable to be hit by a brick before he left the news stand. An invisible hand would place a card on his back that read--- “This pig patronizes German trash!” Often, the following day he would find painted on his house--- “A fool lives here!” A simple and clever device to unify and hearten the Polish people and draw them close to the underground was the order to rename the streets. This order was issued by the political representation. It was somewhat sentimental but it proved invaluable. Over night, on the walls, on street corners, and lamp posts, were new names of heroes admired. Example: Churchill Boulevard:
#8) Labor Camps:
Frequently, my job in the underground was to draw up reports and circulate them among the leaders on the effects of our instructions. In the beginning of 1942, the Germans intensified their man hunts. Increasing numbers of men, women, boys, and girls, were simply rounded up and sent to labor camps. A Polish gentleman who had been a diplomat in his earlier days, who had studied at Heidelberg, had many acquaintances in the German aristocracy and diplomatic corps, applied to the Delegate for permission to write a memorandum to the central authorities in Berlin. He was courageous enough to describe all the excess of brutalities of the Germans in Poland. He asked the German government to put an end to Gestapo brutalities and forbid children, pregnant women, and fathers from being sent to labor camps. It was written as a worthy proposal and might have had some chance of success. I drew up my report from his point of view. All the answers were against granting the request. If he were given permission he would be acting in the name of the Polish nation and the Polish nation did not recognize the right of any German to send one single Polish citizen to a labor camp. The principle for the rigid attitude forbids any collaboration or compromise in the political domain. The project was unanimously vetoed. German administrators, policemen, officers, and some German civilians, are nothing more than a gang of petty robbers who seem to have nothing on their mind other than money and abusing the local population.
#9 The Ends Justifies the Means:
The German administration never seemed to be aware of the degree in which we were able to exploit the weakness of their agents. Bribery was one of the methods we used to take advantage of their venality. Those who wished, at all costs, to be safe and secure were tricked by promises that we would protect them after the war. But by far, the greatest success was scored by black mail. I am afraid that many of us became masters of that fine art. A German official once sold us some news print. His price was outrageous but we paid it cheerfully. What he did not know is that we had proof and photos of his entire transaction. He was politely requested to render us service for other transactions and his prices were continuously reduced. Any average German soldier on furlough or convalescing was often badly in need of money. He longed for good food. He wanted cigarettes and liquor. It was easy for him to sell us a belt, a coat, a revolver, or even a rifle. Our prices were excellent. After the first sale the wretch was compelled to supply us with a steady stream of military articles, which he had to either buy or steal from his colleagues. He knew it would be an easy affair for us to report the transaction to his superiors if he stopped dealing with us. Many German officials who were trustees in estates would attempt to make money in black market. When we requested larger deals they would get angry and our underground man would tell them they wouldn’t want their superiors to know about their treason of selling to their enemy so it was to their benefit to continue the deals.
#10) War Bonds:
There were moments of intense satisfaction in our underground work. Here is one of the most extra-ordinary measures taken by us under the German heel. In 1941, the financial condition of the underground was very poor. The help that came from abroad was insufficient to meet our large expenditures. The government Delegate decided to remedy this condition by floating an internal loan. Bonds were to be sold and when Poland was reborn and returned from exile these certificates would be considered as normal government obligations and would be redeemed with interest. The success of the bond drive was remarkable proof of the faith of the people in the restoration of their country and their confidence in the authority of the underground state. The bonds themselves were not very official in appearance. Tens of thousands of small scraps of paper bore the following text: “I thank you for the gift of -----kilograms of bread, potatoes, coal, etc. I shall do my best to recompense you as soon as possible. “ Then came the signatures of a secret sign in place of a serial number. The potatoes, bread, served to indicate the amount of money. The circulation of the press was used to a large extent in this campaign. People were appointed as loan agents. the campaign served to draw many people into the underground service. Members of the underground, including myself, were assigned to collect the money.
(to be continued) ....
(To be continued )
Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #7
“Retribution”
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slave
#12) The Hidden Printing Machines:
#13) The Hidden Printing Machines:
#14) Secret Codes:
#15) From the Closest to the Roof tops:
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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