Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #1: Bite #11,Packed Like Sardines

The Secret State Series #1

STORY OF A SECRET STATE

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Albright, a biographical essay by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, an afterword by Zbigniew Brzezinski, previously unpublished photos, notes, further reading, and a glossary—is an apt legacy for this hero of conscience during the most fraught and fragile moment in modern history.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. 
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:

PEARL LEONA STURGIS·SUNDAY, JULY 9, 2017

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:

“The Underground”

Bite #11,Packed Like Sardines:

by Jan Karski:

The next morning we were brought to complete alert wakefulness by the arrival of a long line of freight cars. The Russian guards began to urge the soldiers forward into the train. There were no examinations for papers, no attempt to organize, arrange, or check identity. The number of men packed in each car was counted off and when the number reached 60 that car was considered closed. 

It was evidently to be a long journey for one of the Soviet officers instructed us to fill every available vessel with water from the station’s faucets. While this was taking place fresh detachments of Polish prisoners arrived, causing a great deal of confusion and turmoil. during this period (I learned later) many successful attempts of escaping took place by the men slipping out of lightly guarded parts of the station and once outside securing the assistance of the civilian population of Tarnopol, particularly the unforgettable women. 

I was installed among one of the first of 60 freight cars that were drawn up alongside the station. I sat in my car for two hours while the rest of the cars were being filled. In the center of the car was a small iron stove with a few pounds of coal. Evidently we were going quite far north to much colder regions. A pound of dried fish and a pound and a half of bread were distributed to each of us. the trip seemed an eternity. Four days and nights we sat or lay prone in the crowded cattle cars while the train rattled and bounced into increasingly cold territory. 

There was little to do but brood on our misfortunes and try to flex our bodies after the cold nights that were scarcely darker than the gray days. So small an incident as the lighting and caring of the stove was an event in the bleak monotony. Each day the train would stop for half an hour and 60 portions of dried fish and black bread would be shove into the freight cars. After they had been distributed equally and partly eaten we would take advantage of the 15 minutes left to leave the train. Getting down we would inhale fresh air and walk about energetically, delighting in the free movement of our cramped legs and bodies. We were also given a chance to watch the local population. 

(to be continued) ....

(To be continued ) 

Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #1 

Bite #12, Divergence between two Countries:

by Jan Karski 1944 :

“From The Secret State”

 #1) Introduction:

 #2) While Attending a Party:

 #3) Secret Assignment:

 #4) Fifteen days of Marching:

 #5) The Hammer and the Sickle:

 #6) surrendering to the Soviets: 

#7) Laying Down our Arms:

 #8) Prisoners of the Red Army: 

#9) Vanishing in the crowd:

 #10) Heart of the Crowd: 

#11) Packed Like Sardines: 

#12) Divergence between two Countries: 

#13) Marching to our Destination: 

#14) From Polish officer to Russian Slave: 

#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:

IN CASE YOU MISSED ONE OF THE SERIES

To be Continued in the Next Daily Bites of “The Secret State Series #1”

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