The Secret State Series #9
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Albright, a biographical essay by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, an afterword by Zbigniew Brzezinski, previously unpublished photos, notes, further reading, and a glossary—is an apt legacy for this hero of conscience during the most fraught and fragile moment in modern history.
Jan Karski was born in ód , Poland, in 1914. 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.
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."
"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 #9:
The Secret State #9 Hitler’s Jewish Extermination:
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slaves,
to Top Underground Courier:
(an unknown chapter of World War 2)
by Jan Karski: Highlights and excerpts by PL Sturgis:(an unknown chapter of World War 2)
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 #9:
Bites #1-5,Two Jewish Underground Leaders:
#2) Heart Wrenching News:
#3) A Glimmer of Hope:
#4) A message to the United Nations:
#5) Demonic Deception:
by Jan Karski :
#1) Two Jewish Underground Leaders:
At the meeting with the two Jewish underground leaders who now directed the Jewish underground, were once the leaders of the Jewish Alliance, and the Zionist Organization called “The Bund.” These two men are absolutely unforgettable, less like men, more like incarnation of mass suffering and nerves strained in hopeless effort. Both lived outside the ghetto but were able, by secret means, to enter and leave, and carry on their work there. Inside the ghetto they looked, talked, and acted like all the other inhabitants. To carry on their tasks outside the ghetto they succeeded in changing their appearance so completely as to go absolutely undetected by the keenest scrutiny. The Bund Leader, in particular, passed easily as a Polish noble man. Before the war he had been a criminal lawyer with an excellent reputation. Now he appeared to the Germans as an owner of a large store, prosperous and dignified. I realized later, when he accompanied me to the ghetto, the well known Polish merchant underwent a certain transformation and became a Jew. One of thousands of wretched, exhausted, starving Jews, that the pitiless Nazis tormented and hunted with inhuman vindictiveness. The first thing that became clear to me as I sat there talking to these two men in the silence of darkening Warsaw suburbs, was the complete hopelessness of their predicament. For the suffering Polish Jews this was the end of the world. The Zionist Leader made this clear to me. After the war Poland will rise, cities will be rebuilt and wounds will heal. Our country will emerge again but the Jews will no longer exist. Hitler will win. He will have all the Jews murdered.
#2) Heart Wrenching News:
It was an evening of nightmares but with a reality that no nightmare has ever had. I sat in an old rickety arm chair as if I had been pinned there, barely able to utter a word, while the torrents of their emotion broke over me. They paced the floor relentlessly. It was as though they were unable even to think of their dying people and remain seated. After they had talked for a while----After they had tried to convey to me some idea of what their plight was like, the Zionist Leader, holding his head between his hands, and crying like a whipped child, burst out: “What’s the good of talking? What reason do I have to go on living? I ought to go to the Germans and tell them who I am. If all the Jews are killed they won’t need a leader! ----But it’s no use to tell you this! No one in the outside world can possibly understand! Even, I don’t understand! My people are dying and I am still alive!” The other man tried to calm him, laying one hand on his shoulder, while his other hand clenched and unclenched nervously at his side. “We have work to do” he told him... “And very little time to do it. We have to talk to the point!” There was a pause while the Zionist Leader struggled to gain his self control. At length, he smiled wistfully and apologized. I told him there is no need to apologize and I am here to help.
#3) A Glimmer of Hope:
As I met that dreadful night with the two Jewish Leaders I told them I will be in London soon. I would be in a position to obtain audiences with the Allied Authorities. The Zionist Leader interjected hopefully: “Do you think you will be able to see Roosevelt and Churchill?” “Perhaps” I said, “Or if not, maybe someone close to them. I will be going on an official meeting on behalf of the Polish underground. I will be accredited by the Polish government in London. My status will be official and you must give me your official message to the outside world. As the Leaders of the Jewish underground, what do you want me to say?” They hesitated for a moment, as if to consider all that they had to say and select the phrases closest to the true feelings that expressed their plight and their desires most significantly. The Bund leader spoke first: “We want you to tell the Polish and the Allied Governments and the great leaders of the Allies that we are helpless in the face of the German criminals. We can not defend ourselves and no one in Poland can defend us. The Germans are not trying to enslave us as they have done to others. We are being systematically murdered!” Then the Zionist leader broke in: “That is what is so difficult to make people understand.” I nodded my head in assent:
#4) message to the United nations:
The Bund Leader’s message to the United Nations: “Our entire Jewish people will be destroyed. A few may be saved but three million Polish Jews are doomed. Place the responsibility on the shoulder of the Allies. Let not a single leader of the United Nations be able to say that they did not know we were being murdered in Poland and could not be helped except from the outside.” This was the solemn message I carried to the outside world. They impressed it upon me so that it could not be forgotten. They added to it for they saw their position with the clarity of despair. More than 1,8oo,000 Jews had already been murdered. These two Jewish underground leaders refused to delude themselves and foresaw how the United Nations might react to this information. The truth might be believed. It might be said that this figure was exaggerated and not authentic. I was to argue, convince, do anything I could; use every available truth and testimonial about the truth until it could not be denied. They had prepared me an exact statistical account of the Jewish mortality in Poland. I asked for the figures of the murders in the ghetto population. The Zion leader informed me that the exact figure can be very nearly computed by the German deportation orders. i was shocked. “Do you mean that everyone assumed deported was actually killed?” I asked. “Every single one!” he said. “Of course, the Germans will keep up the pretense that they were deported!” he added.
#5) Demonic Deception:
The Germans kept up their pretense that the Jews they murdered were only deported. Even now, when there can be no doubt to the Jews that their people are dead, letters are still being received which inform them that their people are well and happy. the underground leaders offered to put me in a position to prove the statement and confirm it. “When did the deportation (murder) begin?” I asked. “The first deportation order came in July. They demanded 5,000 a day. They were told they would be sent out of Warsaw to work but they were sent immediately to the execution camps. Then it was raised up to six, seven, and on up to ten thousand Jews a day. When an engineer who was chairman of the Jewish Community received the German’s demand for ten thousand people daily, he committed suicide because he knew they would be murdered.” Then, I asked how many altogether would be deported. “Over 300,000” he said. “There are 100,000 left and the deportations are still going on.” I turned pale. It was now the beginning of October in 1942. In two and a half months. in one district in Poland, the Nazis had committed 300,000 murders. It was indeed, the report of an unprecedented species of criminality that I had to bring to the outside world. My report could not be based on their word of mouth stories so they offered to take me to the Warsaw ghetto so that I could literally see the spectacle of a people breathing their last breath, before my very eyes.
(To be continued )
Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #9
Hitler’s Jewish Extermination:
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slaves,
to Top Underground Courier:
to Top Underground Courier:
Bites #6-10,German Death Camps:
#7) Mass Reprisal:
#8) An Eye for an Eye:
#9) Desperate Suggestions:
#10) Message to All People:
by Jan Karski 1944 :
“From The Secret State”
The Secret State: Series 9:
#6) German Death Camps:
#7) Mass Reprisal:
#8) An Eye for an Eye:
#9) Desperate Suggestions:
#10) Message to All People:
#11) Preparing for War in the Ghetto:
#12) Visiting the Desolation:
#13) The Living Dead:
#14) Forced Labor:
#15) The German Death Tax:
#16) A Game Called Murder:
#17) After the Shooting:
#18) Reports to the Allies:
#19) A Special Meeting:
#20) Requesting Drastic Details:
#21) So Many Interviews: So Many Meetings:
#22) Tales of Horror:
#23) Preparations for Entering Death Camp:
#24) buying Back a Life:
#25) Inside the Death Camp:
#26) The One Way Train Ride:
#27) Indescribable Dehumanizing:
#28) Marching through the Death Camp:
#29) Posted at the Death Gate:
#30) The Massacre: (to be continued) How the War was Won:
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https://redd.it/6y400k
Hitler’s Jewish Extermination:
Top Officer in WW2 to German Slaves,
to Top Underground Courier:
to Top Underground Courier:
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