Poland pays tribute to Jan Karski at his birthday

, 16 November 2016
Today the Senate of the Republic of Poland passed a special bill in honor of Jan Karski to mark the centennial of his birth. The bill pays homage to Jan Karski as an outstanding patriot, a man of high morals in immoral times, the paragon of extraordinary civic responsibility and involvement.

Furthermore, the President of the Republic of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, will attend the memorial celebrations that have been organized in Jan Karski’s hometown, Łódź. The President will place flowers at the monument commemorating Poles who rescued Jews during WWII and at the obelisk in memory of the Żegota organization. Afterwards, President Komorowski will take part in the inauguration of a related exhibition about Karski, which will be held at the Marek Edelman Centre for Dialogue. Finally, the President will also plant an oak of freedom in a square near the University of Łódź.

The National Bank of Poland and Polish Post are also engaged in memorial ceremonies. NBP released commemorative coins in honor of Jan Karski. Their values range from PLN 2 to 200. The most valuable one is made of gold, the rest are made of Nordic Gold alloy.

Polish Post has released 300,000 special stamps worth PLN 4.2. The stamp was designed by Agata Tobolczyk.

Sources: the Senate bill, Gazeta Wyborcza Łódź, Polish Radio, Gazeta.pl