Paweł Adamowicz Honoured with the Jan Karski Eagle Award

Mateusz Szczepaniak / English translation: Andrew Rajcher, 21 January 2019
The Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz (1965–2019), who died tragically, has been posthumously honoured with the Jan Karski Eagle for “his good works for which he paid with his life”. On Sunday evening, Adamowicz was stabbed during the finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy) in Gdańsk. He died the next day at the University Clinical Centre.

The Righteous Among the Nations are those who, in an inhumane time, did their humane duty. It is a shame that there are so few of them, but we can be proud that there are so many Poles amongst those few. Those people were able rise above an understandable fear and rescue Jews from the Holocaust. We honour these people so that, in the future, racism, antisemitism and nationalism will not reign over the souls of Europeans 
– Paweł Adamowicz, during a ceremony honouoring the Righteous in Gdańsk on 30th August 2018.

The Eagle Award was established in 2000 on the initiative of Jan Karski – the legendary courier of the Polish Underground State and, himself, a Righteous Among the Nations. He wanted his name to be used to honour those who "added dignity to Poland" and who “wish Poland well”.

To date, those honoured with the Eagle include Elie Wiesel, Marek Edelman, General Władysław Anders, Józef Tischner, Jacek Kuroń, Wiktor Juszczenko, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, Oriana Falacci, the Museum of Ghetto Fighters and “Tygodnik Powszechny”.

On 14th January 2019, it was decided to present the Jan Karski Earle Award to the long-serving Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz, departing for the second time from the tradition of presenting the Award on its patron's birthday – 24th June. As the Jan Karski Association stressed, it wished to fulfil the premise upon which it was established:

May the death of Paweł Adamowicz not be in vain and provide reflection for good
– the declaration of the Award Committee.

Members of the Award Committee include Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop. Alfons Nossol, Rev, Adam Boniecki, former President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Abraham Foxman, long-serving Director of the Anti-Defamation League, Professor Karol Modzelewski, Professor Julian Kornhauser and Dr. Wiesława Kozielewska-Trzaska, niece and goddaughter of Jan Karski.

POLIN Museum farewells Paweł Adamowicz 

Condolences from the management and staff of POLIN Museum ofthe History of Polish Jews »

A few months ago, at the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk, Mayor Paweł Adamowicz participated in a ceremony honouring Righetous Among the Nations – see our report on that ceremony »