Jan Karski was born on April 24, 1914 in Lodz, Poland. He excelled at school studying law throughout Europe, in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. His education made him a prime target for recruitment into the diplomatic service of the Polish government. Karski became an accomplished international diplomat, representing his home country of Poland in London and Paris, as well as numerous other cities throughout Europe.

As the world neared World War II, Jan Karski joined the Polish army as a cavalry officer. He was taken prisoner by the Soviet Red Army in 1939, when they jointly invaded and split Poland with Germany in the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Karski was able to escape the detention camp he was placed in by the Soviet government, quickly returning to Poland to join up with the Underground Resistance in their fight against the Nazi invaders.

Due to his ability to communicate in numerous languages and his photographic memory, Karski was assigned to a dangerous job as a courier for the resistance. He crossed enemy lines on several occasions in order to deliver messages and information from the Polish Underground fighters to the Western Allies.

In 1940, he was captured on a mission by the Gestapo. The Gestapo tortured Karski so badly that he even attempted to take his own life for fear the he could possibly divulge important information regarding the resistance. He was rescued from the clutches of the Gestapo by a task force sent by the Underground Resistance.

Following his escape from the Gestapo, Jan Karski resumed his work as a courier. He was preparing to go to London in 1942, when he first decided to infiltrate the Warsaw Ghetto on the request of Jewish resistance fighters. Karski entered the Ghetto and quickly discovered the horrors of the mass genocide being carried out by Nazi forces. After his visit to Warsaw, he was able to get into the Blezec death camp, located near Lublin, Poland.

Returning from his visit to Warsaw and Blezec, Jan Karski made it his personal mission to inform the Western Allies about what was happening in Poland. Although he gained sympathetic responses from people, no politicians decided to take up the cause of saving the Jews and ending the slaughter, instead maintaining the Allies’ job was to simply defeat Hitler’s military.

After the defeat of Germany in 1945, Karski decided to live in the United States because of his distaste for the Soviet government, which held Poland in its sphere of influence. In America, he studied at Georgetown University, gaining his doctorate in only a few years. Karski went on to teach at this same university until his retirement in 1984.

Although he played a major role in bringing the story of the Holocaust to the West, Jan Karski kept his experiences of the Holocaust very private, rarely divulging details about what he saw take place during the war. Karski died in 2000 at the age of 86, continuing to be known for his heroic efforts to save the people throughout Eastern Europe.

Interview with Tom Wood about Jan Karski - Click here to read

Jan Karski Documentary Movie - click here to read more about the project

Read more about Karski at:
http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/saviors/polish/karski/polish-hero.901.htm