Jan Karski Plaque Unveiled in Warsaw

Mateusz Szczepaniak, 16 November 2016
A plaque honouring Jan Karski was unveiled in Warsaw on 8th May 2016. Karski was the legendary courier of the Polish Government-in-Exile who was the first person to inform the leaders of the Allies of the extermination of Jews during World War II. This plaque is yet another memorial to Karski in the nation's capital.

The plaque was unveiled at the entrance to a tenement at 6 Czerwonego Krzyża Street where, during 1941-9142, Jan Karski worked with Jerzy Choróbski to edit the "Biuletyn Sztabowy” which was based on listening to radio broadcasts. It was later issued as the "Biuletyn”, an organ of the Bureau of Information and Propaganda of the Home Army High Command.

As well as residents of 6 Czerwonego Krzyża Street, others to participate in the unveiling ceremony included representatives of the Jan Karski Association and the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The plaque was unveiled by Karski's niece and goddaughter Dr Wiesława Kozielewska-Trzaska and was blessed by Father Zygmunt Robert Berdychowski, parish priest of Holy Cross church, a parish with which Karski was associated. The plaque was created by Artur Terpiłowski.

Representing  Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Rabin Yehoshua Ellis said, "The lives of Jan Karski and Jerzy Choróbski can be an inspiration to all free peoples. The people of Israel remember, and always will remember, those who helped Jews during World War II".

During World War II, 6 Czerwonego Krzyża Street (No.11 at the time) was the meeting place for the Szare Szeregi (Scouts) and for "Dysk", an underground female cadet unit. Many of the residents were active in the Polish underground structure. The unveiling of the plaque is intended to memorialise one of them – Dr. Jerzy Choróbski who hid a Philips radio receiver under the florrboards of his apartment. Thanks to that, Jan Karski could listen to broadcasts from London and pass that information to the Home Army's Bureau of Information and Propaganda.

Other memorials honouring Jan Karski can also be found in Warsaw. Among them are the bench in front of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, a tree and memorial stone in the Garden of the Righteous at "Jura” Gorzechowski Sqaure, and a memorial plaque at 1 Krakowskie Przedmieście Street, where Karski's underground activities began. Vocational School No. 42 carries Karski's name as does, since last year, the boulevard between the Śląsko-Dąbrowski bridge and Boleść Street.