France – Jan Karski in the French ARTE TV Channel

red., 16 November 2016
The French TV channel Arté has aired previously unknown video material featuring the Polish resistance fighter, Jan Karski. Although this interview with Karski was recorded in the 1970s by Claude Lanzmann during his work on the movie Shoah, Lanzmann used only a small portion of the interview in the finished film.


Lanzmann decided to publish the material to oppose the theory put forward in Yannick Haenel’s book “Jan Karski”, claiming that Roosevelt disregarded the Pole’s reports on the extermination of Jews.

The new film, entitled “Karski’s Report” (“Le rapport Karski”), has been awaited with great interest for several weeks. This was caused by the discussion concerning Jan Karski going on in the last several months.

Claude Lanzmann wanted to show the authentic account of the Polish resistance fighter on his attempts to inform the Western Allies of the ongoing extermination of the Jews. In the film Karski re-enacts his conversation with Roosevelt, speaking alternately as himself and as the president. “Mr. President, the situation is dire. With no outside help, the Jews will die” - said the Polish emissary. According to Karski’s account, Roosevelt only offered very general promises in response. “The Allied nations will be victorious. There will be no more wars. Justice will be done” - the American head of state was to say.

This portion of the movie would seem to lend credibility to Haenel’s theory of Roosevelt’s miniscule interest in the fate of the Jews.