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Albright, a biographical essay by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, an afterword by Zbigniew Brzezinski, previously unpublished photos, notes, further reading, and a glossary—is an apt legacy for this hero of conscience during the most fraught and fragile moment in modern history.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:
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 #21-25,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:
by Jan Karski :
#21) So Many Interviews: So Many Meetings:
I did my best to satisfy the underground Jewish Representative for Poland in London. I emptied my memory of everything I had stored up for just such an occasion. At the end of that interview I was utterly fatigued. My power of response was completely sapped. He looked even more tired. His eyes were jumping out of their sockets. We shook hands as he gazed directly into my eyes. “Mr. Karski, tell them I will do everything they demand if only I will be given a chance. You do believe me, don’t you?” My answer was cold and impatient. What difference did it make whether I believed him? I felt tired, frustrated, and strained. So many interviews: So many meetings! “Of course!” I told him. “Every single one of us are doing our best!” Some weeks later I had almost forgotten him in the endless grinds of interviews and meetings. I was sitting in my room during a brief resting when the phone rang. I picked up the receiver reluctantly. It was an employee from the Stratton House. “Mr. Karski, I was told to inform you that a member of the Polish National Council, the Representative of the Jewish Bund in London, committed suicide yesterday.” he had left some notes saying he did all he could to help the Jewish people in Poland, but failed and all his brothers will perish and he is joining them. He had turned on the gas in his apartment. A wave of shock, grief, and guilt swept over me as I remembered my answer to his last question was cold and unsympathetic. For days afterwards my confidence vanished.
#22) Tales of Horror:
A few days after my second visit to the Warsaw ghetto the Bund leaders planned to arrange an opportunity for me to see the Jewish Death camps. The camp was located near the town of Belzec, about one hundred miles east of Warsaw and it was well known all over Poland from the tales of horror that was circulated about it. the common report was that every Jew who reached it, without exception, was doomed to death. The Bund leaders had never been in it but they had the most detailed information about its operations. I was to go on a day when executions were scheduled. The information was easily obtained because many of the Estonian and Ukrainian who worked there under Gestapo supervision were in the services of Jewish organizations. Not from a humane or political consideration, but for money only. I was to wear the uniform of one of the Estonians who would stay home while I went in under his papers. I was assured that chaos, corruption, and panic prevailed in the camp to such an intent that there was no chance of my disguise being penetrated. Moreover, the whole expedition was perfectly organized in advance. I would go through a door habitually guarded only by Germans and Ukrainian guards. The Estonian uniform itself constituted a pass so that my papers would probably not be inspected. The plan seemed simple and flawless and I agreed without any hesitation.
#23) Preparations for Entering the Death Camps:
Early in the morning on the day we had selected I left Warsaw in the company of a Jew who worked outside the ghetto in the Jewish underground. We arrived in Belzec shortly after noon and went directly to the place where the Estonian was to be waiting to give me his uniform. The uniform was there but the Estonian had sent another to take his place. I changed into the uniform at the little store owned by a local farmer who, of course, worked in the underground. The uniform and boots fit perfect. The hat was a little too big but I stuffed it with papers and pulled it down around my ears. The farmer said it looked fine. The Estonian who was to accompany me spoke German and we had no trouble communicating. My program had not been changed. We would enter through the eastern gate as planned. After we entered my guide would take me to a place suited for observation. He confirmed the Bund leader’s assurance that the camp was so disorganized and indifferently managed that I could stroll about in perfect freedom. I was to stay in the place assigned me and that way I could be an eye witness. After the execution all the guards would be leaving the camp. I was to join them, mingling with the mob of mixed attendants, avoiding the Estonians.
#24) Buying Back a Life:
The Death Camp was about a mile and a half from the little store where I had changed into the Estonian uniform. We walked rapidly taking a side lane. About a mile away from the camp we started hearing shouts and screams. I asked my guide what was going on? “The Jews are hot!” he said, as though he had something witty. I glared at him and the smile on his face disappeared. “They are bringing in a batch today.” he said casually. I knew what he meant and I did not inquire further. We walked on while the noise increased alarmingly. From time to time a series of long screams would set the hair on my scalp bristling. “What are the chances of anyone escaping?” I asked. “None at all!” he answered. Once they get this far their goose is cooked.” I hated to believe it! “Do you mean there isn't a single chance for anyone to escape as bad as this situation is???”--- “Well” he said “Maybe from the camp itself but never alone. With a guard like me it could be done but it is a terrible risk. Jew and I could both be killed.” We trudged on with the Estonian guard watching me out of the corner of his eye. “Of course” he said “If a Jew pays well it could be done.” ---- “How can they pay?” I asked. “No!” he said “We get paid cash in advance from a loved one.” ---- “How many other good men like you are here who are willing to save the Jews?” I asked. “Save then?” he sounded surprised. “I don’t do it to save them. I do it for the money.” I didn’t argue the point. I knew it was hopeless to persuade him of anything different.
#25) Inside the death Camp:
As we approached to within a hundred yards of the camp the shouts, cries, and shots cut off any further conversation with my Estonian guide. I noticed an unpleasant stench that seemed to have come from decomposing bodies mixed with horse manure. This may have been my illusion according to the Estonian guide who did not recognize it. He even began to hum some sort of folk song to himself. We passed through a grove of trees and emerged directly in front of the loud, sobbing, reeking, camp of death. It was on a large flat plain and occupied about a square mile. It was surrounded on all sides by a formidable barbed wire fence nearly two yards high and in good repair. Inside the fence, at intervals of about fifteen yards, two guards were standing, holding rifles with fixed bayonets ready for use. Around the outside of the fence militia men circled in constant patrol. the camp itself contained a few small sheds or barracks. The rest of the area was completely covered by a dense, pulsating, throbbing, noisy, human mass. These were starved, stinking, insane human beings in constant agitated motion. Through thin forcing paths, if necessary by their rifle butts, walked the German police and the militia men. They walked in silence, their faces bored and indifferent. They looked like shepherds bringing a flock to the market or pig dealers among their pigs. They had the tired, vaguely disgusted appearance of men doing a routine tedious job. A few passages had been cut in the fence and gates made out of poles tied together with barbed wire swung back allowing entrance. Each gate was guarded by two men slouching about carelessly.
(to be continued) ....
(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:
#27) Indescribable Dehumanizing:
#28) Marching through the Death Camp:
#29) Posted at the Death Gate:
by Jan Karski 1944 :
“From The Secret State”
The Secret State: Series 9:
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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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