The Year of Jan Karski Inaugurated in Washington

The concerts, entitled “A Tribute to Jan Karski” took place on Saturday and Sundayin the Strathmore Music Centre. Among the works heard by the American audiences were the  Bajka Overture by Stanisław Moniuszki, Frederick Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 played by the National Philharmonic conducted by Michał Dworzyński, artistic director of the Kraków Philharmonic. Renowned Chopin pianist Brian Ganz played together with several Polish artists .

The celebration was opened by the Polish Ambassador in Washington, Ryszard Schnepf, who introduced the audience to the fate and achievements of the Polish underground courier, whose mission during World War II was to inform the Allies leaders of the Holocaust. In addition to the concert, an exhibition on Jan Karski was presented which had been prepared by the Jan Karski Washington Institute for Tolerance and Dialogue..

The concerts marked the beginning of a cycle of events devoted to Karski which will include, among other events, a conference at Georgetown University on Washington. Karski completed his doctorate at this university in 1952 and then, for the next forty years, lectured at the prestigious Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. The conference will take place on 24th April, precisely Jan Karski’s 100th birthday.

Another initiative honouring the Polish courier is a cross-party resolution passed by the USA Senate last week formally establishing the 24th April 2014 as ”Jan Karski Day”.


Source: PAP