[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   A TRIBUTE TO DR. JAN KARSKI, COURIER OF HISTORY AND IMMORTAL HERO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 26, 2000

  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. Jan 
Karski, who sadly passed away on July 13, 2000, at the age of 86 in 
Washington, DC. I have little doubt that my colleagues will agree that 
Dr. Jan Karski is perhaps an unknown, yet irrefutable hero for his 
courageous and selfless actions during World War Il. Under the height 
of Nazi Germany's occupation, Karski flirted with torture and execution 
to give the disbelieving free-world knowledge of the unspeakable crimes 
committed in Eastern Europe. It now gives me great honor to tell Jan 
Karski's courageous story to the U.S. House of Representatives.
  After completing his education in several social sciences, Jan 
Kozielewski entered the Polish diplomatic service in 1938. Given the 
covert nature of his service, Kozielewski changed his name to Jan 
Karski--a surname he retained for the remainder of his life. Karski 
could not have entered diplomatic service at a more perilous time, as 
Poland was being devastated via Hitler and Stalin's secret agreement to 
overthrow the democratic nation. In August 1939, Karski was captured by 
the Red Army and sent to a Russian prison camp. Three months later, he 
luckily escaped Russia and returned to Poland to join the anti-Nazi 
Underground organization.
  In Poland, Jan Karski would use his eidetic memory, knowledge of 
foreign countries and fluency in four languages to serve the Polish 
resistance, humankind and history. For roughly 3 years, he served as a 
courier between the Polish government-in-exile and the Underground 
authorities in Poland. During arduous journeys through the Tatra 
Mountains bordering Czechoslovakia, Karski often traveled in disguise 
as a German officer, or merely eluded border patrols. In 1940, the 
courier was actually arrested and tortured by the Gestapo in Slovakia, 
but was later rescued by underground forces.
  Karski's most heroic actions undoubtedly occurred around September 
1942. In a July 1988 Washingtonian interview, Karski recounted that 
representatives from two Jewish underground organizations informed 
himself of Hitler's ``Final Solution.'' Knowing that direct evidence 
would be far more convincing, Karski was smuggled into the Warsaw 
ghetto twice, which had suffered a virtual eradication of the Jewish 
population from 450,000 to 50,000. With the help of the resistance, 
Karski, dressed as a military fighter, witnessed actual mass murders at 
the lzbica death camp in Eastern Poland.
  In late 1942 and 1943, Jan Karski reported to western governments 
regarding the genocide. In August 1943, he personally spoke with a 
disbelieving President Roosevelt, Henry Stimson, Cordell Hull, and 
other high government and civic leaders in the United States.
  Unfortunately, Jan Karski was soon proven to be tragically correct, 
as nearly one-half of the 6 million European Jews were murdered in 
Nazi-occupied Poland. In his 1944 bestselling book, Story of a Secret 
State, Karski recounted his witness of ``horrible things--horrible, 
horrible things.'' After the war, Karski refused to return to his 
homeland, as the Polish Underground continued to be murdered under 
Communist rule.
  After attaining a doctorate at Georgetown in 1952, Dr. Karski taught 
at the local university for 40 remarkable years, and guest lectured on 
behalf of the U.S. Government on several occasions. In 1954, Dr. Karski 
honored Americans by becoming a fellow citizen. Not surprisingly, the 
freedom fighter was awarded numerous citations by several governments. 
He received Poland's highest civic decoration, and twice its highest 
military award for bravery in combat. In addition, Dr. Karski is an 
Honorary Citizen of the State of Israel. Furthermore, five universities 
around the world have given him honorary degrees.
  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Jan Karski and his story should never be forgotten. 
I hope that my words today will help refresh Americans' memory of a 
holocaust that occurred not too long ago. Most importantly, I urge all 
young Americans to learn the story of the holocaust and World War II. 
In 1816, Thomas Jefferson wrote: ``Enlighten the people generally, and 
tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits 
at the dawn of day.'' Colleagues, let us continue toward that endearing 
goal.

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