The Secret State Series #10
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Albright, a biographical essay by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, an afterword by Zbigniew Brzezinski, previously unpublished photos, notes, further reading, and a glossary—is an apt legacy for this hero of conscience during the most fraught and fragile moment in modern history.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 #10:
“How the War was Won” The Atlantic Charter: Declaration of War:
by Jan Karski:
Highlights and excerpts by PL Sturgis:
Reference Collier's Encyclopedia: Book 2 page 431:
Highlights PL Sturgis:
A Declaration was made in a joint statement issued August 14,1941, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, following a meeting held aboard the USS somewhere in the North Atlantic August 9 through 12. The charter sets forth the principles of the United States and the United Kingdom propose to shape their national policies ---DURING THE PERIOD OF WORLD WAR 2 AND THE POST WAR PERIOD!
The text of the statement follows:
The President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, representing His majesty’s government in United Kingdom, being met together deem it right to make known certain in the national policies of their respective countries, on which they base their hopes for a better future for the world.
1. Our countries seek no increase in power: territorial or other:
2. Our country's desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the fully expressed wishes of the people concerned.
3. Our countries respect the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live. They wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been deprived of them.
4. Our countries will endeavor with due respect for their existing obligations to further the enjoyment by all States, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access on equal terms to the trade and the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity.
5. All countries deserve to bring about the fullest collaboration in the economic field with the object of security for all improved labor standards, economic advancement, and social security.
6. After the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny we hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the meaning of dwelling in safety within our own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all people in all Lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want.
7. such a peace should enable all people to travel the high seas and oceans without hindrance.
8. Our countries believe that all nations of the world, for realistic as well as spiritual reasons, must come to the abandonment of the use of force. Since no future peace can be maintained if land, sea, or air, armaments continued to be employed by nations which threaten aggression outside of their frontiers, our countries believe, pending the system of general security, the destruction of such national regimes is essential. This will likewise aid and encourage all other people of their crushing burden of armaments. Declaration of War:
Daily Bites of The Secret State Series #10:
How the War was Won:
“The Atlantic Charter” by Roosevelt and Churchill”
Bites #26-30, Awarded the Cross of Virtuti Militari:
#27) My Report to United Nations for Poland:
#28) My Report to United Nations War Crimes Commission:
#29) Last Day with General Sikorski:
#30) Crossing the Finish Line:
(the end)
(the end)
by Jan Karski :
#26) Awarded the Cross of Virtuti Militari:
After I had left General Sikorski I had the great honor to be decorated with the Cross of Virtuti Militari: The highest Polish military order: The ceremony took place in the building of the Polish cabinet at 18 kensington Palace Gardens. Several members of the government witnessed the Act which was performed by the Commander in Chief. He spoke to me: I was so moved that I could hardly listen. “Stand right where you are, three steps from me.” he said. I remember bits and phrases.....for merit...for loyal service...for devotion to your country...for courage and sacrifice...for your faith in victory...: I had to submit a long report to the President of Poland Wlad Yslau Rackievitz. The man was the head of the State that was at a distance from him and had concealed all its offices and institutions. Then I had to make reports to the individual members of the government and all the Poland political leaders. It was toilsome, heavy, energy consuming work. I also had a meeting with our ministers of finance. He greeted me and said: “I presume you are here to see me about the political situation in Poland?” ---- “I am very sorry, Sir,” I said, “But what brought me here is a different matter indeed. I came to ask the head of the Polish treasury department for a loan. The Gestapo deprived me of my own very good teeth and I am in desperate need of a new set.” We both laughed heartily.
#27) Reporting to the United Nations for Poland:
After a few weeks I began my second task; that of informing the United Nations of the situation in Poland and the conditions of the underground. I was to tell them about our work, our aim, what they could expect from us, and what we wanted from them; our mutual efforts for the common cause. My meeting with Anthony Eden made a vivid impression on me. Although he did not know it he had made an important impression on me when I was a student. While I was doing research work in the Library of the League of Nations in Geneva, Eden was the ruling idol of my group of friends. His acts, speeches, and manners represented to us the acme of modern statesmanship. Before I left his spacious room in the Foreign Office he said to me: “You seem to have been through everything in this war except one, Jan Karski. The Germans did not get to shoot you! I wish you good luck and feel honored to have met you.” and I replied: “I am only one of thousands, Sir. Many thousands” Then I started my round of calls on other prominent Englishmen. It did not seem very novel. It was almost like what I had been doing in Poland, running from one contact to another. Of course here, there were limousines and good food. In Poland it was terror and hunger. Nearly every English political leader was interested in a different aspect of my reports. I can not fathom how or why it should be so, but each and every one of them wanted to hear about something different.
#28) My Report to United Nations War Crimes Commission:
The United Nations War Crimes Commission is composed of United Nation Representatives of which, Cecil Hurst, the Legal Advisory of the British Government, is the Chairman. I told them what I had seen in the Warsaw Ghetto and the Belzec Death Camp. My testimony was placed on record and I was told that it would be used as evidence in the United Nations indictment against Germany. I also gave interviews to the English and Allied Press, to members of Parliament, to Literary and international groups. In those memorable days I had the privilege of meeting the political, cultural, and religious elite of Great Britain. Polish contribution to the war effort was a far different thing, in a cold conspiratorial meeting place than the world saw it from remote London. In London, our efforts meant, some hundred thousands of Polish soldiers, a hand full of ships, and a few thousand Polish aviators, who were hailed for their heroic feats in the battle of Britain, but soon became lost in the overwhelming mass of Allied air power. Our efforts meant the brief September campaign and some echoes of obstinate resistance. In London these things were small. London was the hub of a vast military wheel, the spokes of which are made up of billions of dollars. armadas of bombers and ships, and staggering armies that had suffered great losses. Then too, people would ask: “Where does Polish sacrifice rank next to the heroism, sacrifice, and suffering of the Russian people? Who do the Polish citizens think they are?” In Warsaw it was different. the Polish precipitants accepted the challenge of the most ruthless war machine that ever existed while Europe occupants were passive and compromising
#29) Last Day with General Sikorski:
Poland’s first resistance to the overwhelming Nazi power was by holding moral principles, without which nations can not live together. In Warsaw it meant risking the lives of thousands of underground workers every day. It meant faith until death to the right cause in spite of the sacrifice of five million lives. The outside world could not comprehend the two most important principles of Polish resistance. It could never understand the sacrifice and heroism entailed in the nation wide refusal to collaborate with the Germans. The whole nation of the underground state was unintelligible to them. I tried to point out to the United Nation Leaders that the Polish Army, as a whole, suffered greater loss than any of our Allies. One day soon after my report to the War Crimes Commission I received an important telephone call from General Sikorski, our Polish underground Leader. I went to his office and he gave me these orders: “You are going soon to the United States in the same capacity as here. You will have no instructions of any kind. Our Ambassador will put you in touch of prominent Americans. You will tell them what you have seen and what you have been through in Poland. You will tell everything you have told to the United Nations. You will tell the truth and only the truth. You will answer all questions that do not endanger your comrades or harm the underground.” When I left his office I had no idea it was for the last time. It was world wide news. He died in a plane crash a few days after our last meeting. A few weeks later I was watching the Statue of Liberty emerge from the New York Harbor. Like England, the United States soon became a series of meetings, conversations, introductions, and endless speeches. It seemed to me as though the network, in which I was a part, performed some function in a single world wide organism, ... an organism from which no member, not even the most powerful, could separate itself! Either join in unity or create your own destruction.
#30) Crossing the Finish Line:
Finally I was told that the President of the United States wanted to hear from me personally about events in Poland and occupied Europe. I asked my Ambassador what I should tell him? “Be exact and brief” he told me. “Mr. Roosevelt is the busiest man in the whole world.” The White House looked to me like a country mansion surrounded by trees and silence. I missed the superb statues, towers and traditions. It was typically a country gentleman’s house on a large estate. I entered the white House with my Ambassador to meet the most powerful man in the most powerful nation in the world. He was amazingly well informed about Poland and wanted more information. His questions were minute, detailed, and directed squarely at important points. He inquired about our methods of education and our attempts to safeguard the children. He asked me to verify the stories told about the German practices against the Jews. He was anxious to learn the techniques for their sabotoge. Like general Sikorski, his interests embraced the security of all humanity. When I left I felt fatigued. It was the satisfied weariness of a workman who had just completed his job. The Ambassador took leave of me and I walked to the square and sat down on a bench to watch the people pass by. They looked well and happy and not effected by the war. They knew nothing of the barbed wire, the prison camps, ....a brutality they could never even dream of...the filth, the hunger, the degradation. I sat there on the bench in Washing DC, remembering my dear friend, General Sikorski. “Report to the world” he said. “You are not representing the Polish government. Your task is only to reproduce objectively what you saw; what you experienced and what you are bidden to tell about what happened in Poland and other occupied countries in Europe.” Never Again: Dear God! Never Again:
End of series:
(to be continued) ....
(To be continued )
Daily Bites of The Secret State Series - ALL 1#-10#
by Jan Karski 1944 :
“From The Secret State”
The Secret State: Series 10:
#2) Escaping the Death Camp:
#3) Recovering from a Living Nightmare:
#4) The Farewell Party:
#5) The Sacred Ceremony:
#6) From Warsaw to Berlin:
#7) An Unnecessary Risk:
#8) Visiting old Friends:
#9) Friends of my Enemies:
#10) Brainwashing the Youth:
#11) From Berlin to Brussels to Paris:
#12) Contacting the French Underground:
#13) True to form “Warbird”
#14) Destination: Allied Authorities:
#15) Journey to the Border:
#16) The Old Spaniard:
#17) Landing in Barcelona:
#18) Reaching my Contact:
#19) Meeting the Consul General:
#20) Receiving the Necessary Certificates:
#21) Through Algeria to London:
#22) Two Days of Preliminary Reports:
#23) Reporting to Poland’s Underground Leader:
#24) General Sikorski’s Report to United Nations:
#25) A Friend and a Commander in Chief:
#26) Awarded the Cross of Virtuti Militari:
#27) My Report to United Nations for Poland:
#28) My Report to United Nations War Crimes Commission:
#29) Last Day with General Sikorski:
#30) Crossing the Finish Line: (the end)
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To be Continued in the Next Daily Bites of “The Secret State Series #10”
How the War was Won:“The Atlantic Charter” by Roosevelt and Churchill”
"FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY"
Stand Up To Government Corruption and Hypocrisy
NEVER FORGET THE SACRIFICES
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