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Story of a Secret State: My Report to the World
'Stands in the absolute first rank of books about the resistance in World War II. If you wish to read about a man more courageous and honourable than Jan Karski, I would have no idea who to recommend' Alan Furst
It is 1939. Jan Karski, a brilliant young Polish student, enjoys a life of parties and pleasure. Then war breaks out and his familiar world is destroyed. Now he must live under a new identity, in the resistance. And, in a secret mission that could change the course of the war, he must risk his own life to try and save those of millions.
'Insistently asks the question: What would you do? Would you fight, or acquiesce, or collaborate? ... Karski was deeply patriotic and ludicrously brave ... an astonishing testament of survival' Ben Macintyre
'Karski's adventures are worthy of the wildest spy thriller' Daily Telegraph
'This eye-witness testimony is imbued with a passion that subsequent memoirs can rarely match' Financial Times
'Deeply moving' Daily Mail
'Reads like the screenplay to an incredibly exciting war movie - but it is all true' Andrew Roberts
It is 1939. Jan Karski, a brilliant young Polish student, enjoys a life of parties and pleasure. Then war breaks out and his familiar world is destroyed. Now he must live under a new identity, in the resistance. And, in a secret mission that could change the course of the war, he must risk his own life to try and save those of millions.
'Insistently asks the question: What would you do? Would you fight, or acquiesce, or collaborate? ... Karski was deeply patriotic and ludicrously brave ... an astonishing testament of survival' Ben Macintyre
'Karski's adventures are worthy of the wildest spy thriller' Daily Telegraph
'This eye-witness testimony is imbued with a passion that subsequent memoirs can rarely match' Financial Times
'Deeply moving' Daily Mail
'Reads like the screenplay to an incredibly exciting war movie - but it is all true' Andrew Roberts
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1944
176 people are currently reading
3109 people want to read
About the author
Jan Karski
9 books21 followersJan Karski (born Jan Kozielewski) was a Polish World War II resistance movement fighter and later professor at Georgetown University. In 1942 and 1943 Karski reported to the Polish government in exile and the Western Allies on the situation in German-occupied Poland, especially the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, and the secretive German-Nazi extermination camps.
After the war Karski entered the United States and began his studies at Georgetown University, receiving a Ph.D from the institution in 1952. In 1954, Karski became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He taught at Georgetown University for 40 years in the areas of East European affairs, comparative government and international affairs. Among his students was Bill Clinton (Class of 1968). In 1985, he published the academic study The Great Powers and Poland based on research on a Fulbright fellowship in 1974 to his native Poland.
On 2 June 1982, Yad Vashem recognised Jan Karski as Righteous Among the Nations. A tree bearing a memorial plaque in his name was planted that same year at Yad Vashem's Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations in Jerusalem. In 1994, Karski was made an honorary citizen of Israel in honor of his efforts on behalf of Polish Jews during the Holocaust (Shoah). Karski was nominated for the Nobel Prize and formally recognized by the UN General Assembly shortly before his death.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Karski
After the war Karski entered the United States and began his studies at Georgetown University, receiving a Ph.D from the institution in 1952. In 1954, Karski became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He taught at Georgetown University for 40 years in the areas of East European affairs, comparative government and international affairs. Among his students was Bill Clinton (Class of 1968). In 1985, he published the academic study The Great Powers and Poland based on research on a Fulbright fellowship in 1974 to his native Poland.
On 2 June 1982, Yad Vashem recognised Jan Karski as Righteous Among the Nations. A tree bearing a memorial plaque in his name was planted that same year at Yad Vashem's Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations in Jerusalem. In 1994, Karski was made an honorary citizen of Israel in honor of his efforts on behalf of Polish Jews during the Holocaust (Shoah). Karski was nominated for the Nobel Prize and formally recognized by the UN General Assembly shortly before his death.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Karski
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
July 3, 2014
As the resident Pole on Bookmunch I have received this book for reviewing and now I am afraid I won’t do it justice. Going through years of the Polish education system, I didn’t think I wanted or needed to know anything more about World War II, the occupation, the Gestapo or the Holocaust. I was wrong. Jan Karski’s Story of a Secret State should be a compulsory read for everyone. I am not saying this because I am Polish and we like to inform the whole world about our heroic, albeit forgotten deeds. I am saying this because it is an extremely well-written, captivating, thrilling and unsettling account of the Second World War.
The book starts with a carefree atmosphere of a ball in the Portuguese embassy, where Karski is trying to flirt with the daughters of the Portuguese Ambassador. It’s a beautiful summer night but we already know these are the last moments for light-heartedness and innocence because it is August of 1939. Karski will wake up in a different world and we follow him as he is thrown overnight into the very centre of the war. And so begins the story of the Polish Resistance – the largest resistance movement in all of occupied Europe – the complex secret state operating underground and punishing by death any attempts of collaboration with the Occupant. To the very end Poland refused to surrender, collaborate or even acknowledge the existence of Nazi occupation. The price it had to pay for such unreasonable stubbornness was high – Poland lost 6 million people (including 3 million Polish Jews).
Like every good WWII spy thriller Story of A Secret State has arrests, Soviet work camps, German camps, torture, microfilms, dozens of false identities, emergency cyanide pills, and treks through borders of various countries of the war-torn Europe. Nonetheless, Karski’s “Report to the World” is honest, modest, full of distance to himself and even has occasional glimpses of humour, and is therefore very far removed from the ‘I’m on a horse’ Bond-like narratives. The story is characterised by typical Polish patriotism, reckless and insane; the very kind that has long been smothered by political correctness, but the kind that had allowed Poland to survive the many decades it has been wiped off the map. It goes very much along the lines of Poland’s favourite motto: ”God, Honour, Motherland”- the holy trinity of Polish values. I was afraid that this kind of sentiment might not be fully understood in the UK, because the English never had to fight for the very existence of their Motherland, and therefore never developed this sort of feverish madness as a national trait. In Karski’s own words:
“[The Englishmen] were also stubborn, strong and realistic. A Frenchman or a Pole, with an exaggerated love for the grand gesture, might commit suicide for a lost cause. An Englishman, never. […] They do not gamble recklessly with a worthless hand. […] I was not interested in their idealism; I had seen idealism too easily crushed by the Nazis. Perhaps it was not just on England, but it was on British common sense alone that I pinned all my hopes.”
Yet, when I read Andrew Roberts’ heartfelt afterword in this new edition, I realised that the English might not be as unsentimental as Karski saw them.
Story of a Secret State was originally published in the US in 1944 where it became an instant bestseller selling over 400,000 copies, yet it failed to achieve what Karski set out to do – make the Western Allies believe the shocking reality of the Nazi genocide of the Jews, Poles and others. The reports he brought in 1942 and 1943 to the British and American authorities were tragically assumed to be typically Polish exaggerations. The plaque that appears on the statue of Karski in Washington, DC reads: “The Man Who Told of the Annihilation of the Jewish People While There Was Still Time To Stop It”.
Story of A Secret State should now be read as a reminder to never underestimate the atrocities as well heroism that humans are capable of.
The book starts with a carefree atmosphere of a ball in the Portuguese embassy, where Karski is trying to flirt with the daughters of the Portuguese Ambassador. It’s a beautiful summer night but we already know these are the last moments for light-heartedness and innocence because it is August of 1939. Karski will wake up in a different world and we follow him as he is thrown overnight into the very centre of the war. And so begins the story of the Polish Resistance – the largest resistance movement in all of occupied Europe – the complex secret state operating underground and punishing by death any attempts of collaboration with the Occupant. To the very end Poland refused to surrender, collaborate or even acknowledge the existence of Nazi occupation. The price it had to pay for such unreasonable stubbornness was high – Poland lost 6 million people (including 3 million Polish Jews).
Like every good WWII spy thriller Story of A Secret State has arrests, Soviet work camps, German camps, torture, microfilms, dozens of false identities, emergency cyanide pills, and treks through borders of various countries of the war-torn Europe. Nonetheless, Karski’s “Report to the World” is honest, modest, full of distance to himself and even has occasional glimpses of humour, and is therefore very far removed from the ‘I’m on a horse’ Bond-like narratives. The story is characterised by typical Polish patriotism, reckless and insane; the very kind that has long been smothered by political correctness, but the kind that had allowed Poland to survive the many decades it has been wiped off the map. It goes very much along the lines of Poland’s favourite motto: ”God, Honour, Motherland”- the holy trinity of Polish values. I was afraid that this kind of sentiment might not be fully understood in the UK, because the English never had to fight for the very existence of their Motherland, and therefore never developed this sort of feverish madness as a national trait. In Karski’s own words:
“[The Englishmen] were also stubborn, strong and realistic. A Frenchman or a Pole, with an exaggerated love for the grand gesture, might commit suicide for a lost cause. An Englishman, never. […] They do not gamble recklessly with a worthless hand. […] I was not interested in their idealism; I had seen idealism too easily crushed by the Nazis. Perhaps it was not just on England, but it was on British common sense alone that I pinned all my hopes.”
Yet, when I read Andrew Roberts’ heartfelt afterword in this new edition, I realised that the English might not be as unsentimental as Karski saw them.
Story of a Secret State was originally published in the US in 1944 where it became an instant bestseller selling over 400,000 copies, yet it failed to achieve what Karski set out to do – make the Western Allies believe the shocking reality of the Nazi genocide of the Jews, Poles and others. The reports he brought in 1942 and 1943 to the British and American authorities were tragically assumed to be typically Polish exaggerations. The plaque that appears on the statue of Karski in Washington, DC reads: “The Man Who Told of the Annihilation of the Jewish People While There Was Still Time To Stop It”.
Story of A Secret State should now be read as a reminder to never underestimate the atrocities as well heroism that humans are capable of.
March 11, 2021
Indrukwekkende getuigenis van een Poolse militair die bij de ondergrondse terecht kwam. Hij overleefde tenauwernood de Gestapoverhoren en hij werd het getto in Warschau en een vernietigingskamp binnengesmokkeld om met eigen ogen de totale 'Entlösung' te kunnen waarnemen.
Hij kreeg verschillende onderscheidingen waaronder de titel van 'Rechtvaardige onder de volkeren' door Yad Vashim.
Ik was verbijsterd dat het in die tijd mogelijk was om iemand een vernietigingskamp in en uit te smokkelen. Deze man is ook verscheidene keren landsgrenzen overgegaan (naar Frankrijk, weer terug naar Polen) om uiteindelijk in Londen terecht te komen en daarna in de USA. Er werd toen naar hem gezocht, dus hij kon niet meer terug naar Polen.
Impressive testimony of a Polish soldier who ended up in the underground. He barely survived the Gestapo hearings and was smuggled into the Warsaw ghetto and an extermination camp in order to observe with his own eyes the total 'Entlösung'.
He was awarded several awards including the title of 'Righteous Among the Nations' by Yad Vashim.
I was baffled that it was possible at that time to smuggle someone in and out of an extermination camp. This man also crossed national borders several times (to France, back to Poland) to eventually end up in London and then in the USA. He was then searched for, so he could not return to Poland.
Hij kreeg verschillende onderscheidingen waaronder de titel van 'Rechtvaardige onder de volkeren' door Yad Vashim.
Ik was verbijsterd dat het in die tijd mogelijk was om iemand een vernietigingskamp in en uit te smokkelen. Deze man is ook verscheidene keren landsgrenzen overgegaan (naar Frankrijk, weer terug naar Polen) om uiteindelijk in Londen terecht te komen en daarna in de USA. Er werd toen naar hem gezocht, dus hij kon niet meer terug naar Polen.
Impressive testimony of a Polish soldier who ended up in the underground. He barely survived the Gestapo hearings and was smuggled into the Warsaw ghetto and an extermination camp in order to observe with his own eyes the total 'Entlösung'.
He was awarded several awards including the title of 'Righteous Among the Nations' by Yad Vashim.
I was baffled that it was possible at that time to smuggle someone in and out of an extermination camp. This man also crossed national borders several times (to France, back to Poland) to eventually end up in London and then in the USA. He was then searched for, so he could not return to Poland.
Read
November 27, 2022It's surprising in a lot of ways that this account of the holocaust and the occupation of Poland isn't as well known as, for example, Frank's diary. But whereas Frank's diary was only published after the war, Karski's accounts of Belsen were presented to the American and British governments while it was underway, but remained unpublicised but to lack of definitive evidence and some degree of suspicion as to their veracity.
One particular detail did strike me: upon meeting Anthony Eden, Karski recounts how his generation had regarded him with hero worship as the pre-eminent statesman of his day. Remarkable how subsequent events entirely erased that...
One particular detail did strike me: upon meeting Anthony Eden, Karski recounts how his generation had regarded him with hero worship as the pre-eminent statesman of his day. Remarkable how subsequent events entirely erased that...
April 27, 2020
When I first picked up this book, I thought it was published in the last 10 years. Certain topics, phrasings and descriptions seemed dated to me. So, I looked up the first publication which is 1944. As I continued to read, I thought about the book as an immediate primary source from WW II and that changed everything for me. Most of what I have read about WWII has the distance of analysis and synthesis. Karski's story provides an immediacy of navigating and being uncertain about what to do next in every situation, from simple things like how to knock on a door to bigger decisions of trusting someone to buy you a train ticket.
June 9, 2012
Now, this one was extremely good.
And it's hard to believe how "Story of a Secret State" had to wait for so long before being re-published.
Jan Karski - a nom de plume, pardon d'action - wrote this book with the extreme urgency of a man who has just managed to get through four years of war, starvation, captivity and, on the top of it, a dangerous clandestine patriotic activity.
A brilliant combination, isn't it?
Nevertheless, "Story of a Secret State" is written very well with its author never claiming to be the best one among those around him or stressing out his bravery and determination.
In fact quite the opposite; Karski admits his human fragility while being tortured, his fear of being captured while crossing borders and reckons how some people did heroic actions in Nazi/Soviet occupied Poland without getting the honour they would have deserved at the end of the war.
The way Karski tells us about the Polish Underground organization between 1939 and 1943 is amazing and very detailed. There are interesting insights on the way clandestine press worked and how boys, girls and women helped the Underground in many ways from carrying vital information to hosting its members.
Then there are the missions Karski himself took part in. These adventures are described in a detailed and precise way here, without forgetting a touch of irony when needed and not stepping back towards human tragedy.
This is the same free man who went to a concentration camp in incognito and later tried to convince Roosevelt and Churchill to speed up their intervention in continental Europe informing them about the horrors he witnessed in first person.
This is the man who entered the Warsaw Jewish ghetto while the Nazi were sending off its whole population to be exterminated and just before its fearless but unsuccessful insurrection.
And there's much more to be found here.
As for me, "Story of a Secret State" has a lot of extra meanings and personal links.
I had the chance to visit most of the places Jan Karski wrote about from Radom (!) to the Tatra mountains around Zakopane and always wanted to see Lvov where he was born.
And of course there is Warsaw with its recent history, its uprising, its destruction, its cultural vitality despite communism and its current redevelopment (although not always fulfilled in a proper way).
I visited the modern but rather messy Warsaw Uprising Museum and don't remember any mention to Karski there.
I walked in the area where the Ghetto used to be and below the massive socialist residential blocs known as the mammoth's wardrobes it was hard to picture how all it looked before.
I slept in that same Praga district of Warsaw which doesn't look very different today from how Karski portrayed it in the 1940s.
Even if you never visited Poland and have no intention to, this book has to read, if only to get a glimpse of how a whole nation managed to build up a parallel State hidden under the rubble of bombarded Warsaw and how the majority of Poles were not passive at all during World War II.
Behold! This book has nothing to do with nationalism etc.
This is an engrossing reading where history gets human features and feelings and doubts and despair and joy while it happens.
There is no fictional spy story (sorry Graham) which could be that good. And true.
And it's hard to believe how "Story of a Secret State" had to wait for so long before being re-published.
Jan Karski - a nom de plume, pardon d'action - wrote this book with the extreme urgency of a man who has just managed to get through four years of war, starvation, captivity and, on the top of it, a dangerous clandestine patriotic activity.
A brilliant combination, isn't it?
Nevertheless, "Story of a Secret State" is written very well with its author never claiming to be the best one among those around him or stressing out his bravery and determination.
In fact quite the opposite; Karski admits his human fragility while being tortured, his fear of being captured while crossing borders and reckons how some people did heroic actions in Nazi/Soviet occupied Poland without getting the honour they would have deserved at the end of the war.
The way Karski tells us about the Polish Underground organization between 1939 and 1943 is amazing and very detailed. There are interesting insights on the way clandestine press worked and how boys, girls and women helped the Underground in many ways from carrying vital information to hosting its members.
Then there are the missions Karski himself took part in. These adventures are described in a detailed and precise way here, without forgetting a touch of irony when needed and not stepping back towards human tragedy.
This is the same free man who went to a concentration camp in incognito and later tried to convince Roosevelt and Churchill to speed up their intervention in continental Europe informing them about the horrors he witnessed in first person.
This is the man who entered the Warsaw Jewish ghetto while the Nazi were sending off its whole population to be exterminated and just before its fearless but unsuccessful insurrection.
And there's much more to be found here.
As for me, "Story of a Secret State" has a lot of extra meanings and personal links.
I had the chance to visit most of the places Jan Karski wrote about from Radom (!) to the Tatra mountains around Zakopane and always wanted to see Lvov where he was born.
And of course there is Warsaw with its recent history, its uprising, its destruction, its cultural vitality despite communism and its current redevelopment (although not always fulfilled in a proper way).
I visited the modern but rather messy Warsaw Uprising Museum and don't remember any mention to Karski there.
I walked in the area where the Ghetto used to be and below the massive socialist residential blocs known as the mammoth's wardrobes it was hard to picture how all it looked before.
I slept in that same Praga district of Warsaw which doesn't look very different today from how Karski portrayed it in the 1940s.
Even if you never visited Poland and have no intention to, this book has to read, if only to get a glimpse of how a whole nation managed to build up a parallel State hidden under the rubble of bombarded Warsaw and how the majority of Poles were not passive at all during World War II.
Behold! This book has nothing to do with nationalism etc.
This is an engrossing reading where history gets human features and feelings and doubts and despair and joy while it happens.
There is no fictional spy story (sorry Graham) which could be that good. And true.
February 1, 2021
A simultaneously harrowing and inspiring memoir. Karski’s account of Poland’s occupation and the role of the Underground throughout WW2 serves as a reminder of the best and worst humanity is capable of. An important read for everyone and one that will stay with me forever.
April 14, 2013
Story of a proud Polish patriot who began working for the Polish Underground and helped establish the Polish Government-in-exile during the German occupation of World War II.
He goes from a life of privilege as a 25 year old officer in the Polish army to a life of hiding, subterfuge and at times, exhausting anxiety borne from love of country.
When captured and tortured by the Gestapo: "I had to persist in my story as if it were a magical incantation that would prevent me from blurting out the damaging truth."
He also witnessed the torture and deportation of Polish Jews.
His job was to maintain the Polish state through Underground work and report what he'd witnessed to the world.
Fabulous written testimony of a multifaceted, remarkable journey.
He goes from a life of privilege as a 25 year old officer in the Polish army to a life of hiding, subterfuge and at times, exhausting anxiety borne from love of country.
When captured and tortured by the Gestapo: "I had to persist in my story as if it were a magical incantation that would prevent me from blurting out the damaging truth."
He also witnessed the torture and deportation of Polish Jews.
His job was to maintain the Polish state through Underground work and report what he'd witnessed to the world.
Fabulous written testimony of a multifaceted, remarkable journey.
December 10, 2016
This is a top-notch work of non-fiction by a hero of mine, Polish Catholic Jan Karski, who risked his life during the Holocaust as a courier and spy for the Polish government in exile and to desperately try to get powerful nations like the USA to intervene on behalf of the Jews without luck (FDR was a Jew hating bigot). Powerful stuff.
July 11, 2024
3.5*
A great account of the Polish Resistance in the Second World War, impressively told by Jan Karski, where he explains the intention was not only to disrupt Nazi occupation but to act as a complete continuation of the Polish state.
The book effectively depicts the magnitude and complexities of the underground state and its importance for the Polish people, a state that included its own military, government, judiciary, and clandestine educational system.
I only gave this book 3.5 stars as I thought parts of the second half of the book were excessively detailed with an over-explanation of certain aspects of the underground state, making it difficult to read at times.
However, the first part of the book is exceptional as Jan takes you through his personal experiences of the Nazi invasion, Polish retreat, his capture by the Soviet Red Army and subsequent escape before being recruited into the underground state and the dangerous missions that were to follow.
Unfortunately, Jan Karski’s words on the horrors of Nazi occupation wouldn’t truly be believed by the West until some years later upon the end of the war.
A great account of the Polish Resistance in the Second World War, impressively told by Jan Karski, where he explains the intention was not only to disrupt Nazi occupation but to act as a complete continuation of the Polish state.
The book effectively depicts the magnitude and complexities of the underground state and its importance for the Polish people, a state that included its own military, government, judiciary, and clandestine educational system.
I only gave this book 3.5 stars as I thought parts of the second half of the book were excessively detailed with an over-explanation of certain aspects of the underground state, making it difficult to read at times.
However, the first part of the book is exceptional as Jan takes you through his personal experiences of the Nazi invasion, Polish retreat, his capture by the Soviet Red Army and subsequent escape before being recruited into the underground state and the dangerous missions that were to follow.
Unfortunately, Jan Karski’s words on the horrors of Nazi occupation wouldn’t truly be believed by the West until some years later upon the end of the war.
July 27, 2025
la sorpresa d'aquest estiu. Un llibre excel·lent sobre un moment molt dur d'Europa. Els capítols del gueto de Varsòvia i del camp de concentració són de llàgrima.
April 29, 2021
Ongelofelijk indrukwekkend boek dat de ontberingen beschrijft als geheim koerier in de Poolse verzetsbeweging. Zeer persoonlijk geschreven en geeft een heel goed beeld van het leven als koerier tijdens de 2e wereldoorlog. Veel bewondering voor het kunnen opbrengen van zoveel verzet tegen de Duitse bezetter. Het is zo indringend geschreven dat je het gevoel krijgt observator te zijn van het leven van Jan Karski.
March 16, 2020
I’m embarrassed to have never heard of Jan Karski until now. His story truly reads like something out of a movie - tortured by the Gestapo, snuck into both the Warsaw Ghetto and a concentration camp, and finally escaping to tell his story in the West, I was utterly captivated by Karski’s exploits at every turn. Equal parts inspiring and heartbreaking, this is a book that’ll stick with me.
May 10, 2012
This is one of the most intriguing and exciting books about World War II, primarily the Polish resistance, that I have read. The bravery and determination of Karski is outstanding, his tale-telling superb, and it made for quite an emotional read.
November 11, 2025
Story of a Secret State is an excellent example of why I find non-fiction more interesting than fiction, and why the history of the Second World War continues to fascinate me. Jan Karski's memoir provides a richly detailed account of his wartime experience and work in the Polish underground; of his life and world turned upside-down by the Nazi invasion and occupation, and his responses to these extraordinary circumstances.
From the start, Karski's wartime experience and underground work was fraught with close brushes with death. After his unit was defeated and captured by the Red Army, he faked his identity to receive transfer to the German zone of occupation, thereby avoiding the Katyn massacre. In German captivity, he escaped from a moving train bound for Auschwitz, walked to Warsaw, and joined the underground resistance. While serving as a courier to the Polish government-in-exile, he was caught by the Gestapo in Slovakia, tortured, attempted suicide, and was then rescued after transport to a hospital in Poland. From then on, his underground work was constantly beset by the Gestapo and SS, ever-present and brutally reactive in occupied Poland.
Much of Jan's account describes his work in the underground, the secret state, which was chiefly in intelligence gathering, propaganda, and serving as a courier. His memoir is impressive in detailing the adminstrative functions that went into creating the Polish underground, less visible than overt acts of resistance, but highly impactful in disrupting the German occupation. Published in 1944 in the United States, there is an underlying message to impress on the reader that Poland had a functioning government amidst Nazi occupation, which would create a stable and democratic state in the aftermath of the war. While wartime publishing restraints meant Karski wrote little of Polish-Soviet relations, his message was clearly meant to sway the American public in the midst of the Soviet takeover of Poland.
The other critical aspect of Karski's memoir is his report to the world, which was one of the earliest eye-witness accounts of the Holocaust in Poland. After speaking to two Jewish leaders in Poland, Karski was convinced of the unprecedented extermination of Polish Jews, and resolved to report on both the Warsaw Ghetto and the operations of the Belzec death camp. Both harrowing accounts are included in his memoir, and he used his experiences to lobby world leaders for greater action against the Holocaust after arriving in Britain in 1943.
Unfortunately, Karski's book produced neither of its goals. Poland was ultimately left to Soviet dominance with the complicity of the United States and Britain, while his accounts of the Holocaust brought little concrete action from the Allied governments. That said, his testimony did find its way into the growing number of reports on the Holocaust, although the western Allies would not fully grasp its scale until liberating the camps in 1945. More tragically, by the time Karski made his journey to Britain and the United States, the Holocaust was mostly completed in Poland.
Nevertheless, Karski's memoir is one of the best published around Poland in WWII, despite some of its omissions due to wartime politics. (For instance, Karski was not able to write negatively about the Soviet Union, or, at the behest of British publishers, he presented his unit as having fled in the early days of September 1939, when it in fact fought for three weeks.) His account, with its twists and turns, close-calls, unpredictable fates, and his skill in writing, would certainly rival any piece of fiction on the subject.
The dissapointing fact remains of the book's lack of immediate impact, although its value as an eye-witness account today is immeasurable. Of this, it seems generally true that there is an inertia in international politics when faced with global atrocities, whether from disbelief, prejudice, politics, distance, or simple material realities.
This, to paraphrase Karski, shows "the extent to which the world has become cold and unfriendly, nations and individuals seperated by immense gulfs of indifference, selfishness, and convenience. All too plainly, this marks the fact that the domination of mutual suspicion, estrangement, and lack of sympathy has progressed so far that even those who wish and strive for a remedy by every possible means are powerless and able to accomplish pitifully little."
From the start, Karski's wartime experience and underground work was fraught with close brushes with death. After his unit was defeated and captured by the Red Army, he faked his identity to receive transfer to the German zone of occupation, thereby avoiding the Katyn massacre. In German captivity, he escaped from a moving train bound for Auschwitz, walked to Warsaw, and joined the underground resistance. While serving as a courier to the Polish government-in-exile, he was caught by the Gestapo in Slovakia, tortured, attempted suicide, and was then rescued after transport to a hospital in Poland. From then on, his underground work was constantly beset by the Gestapo and SS, ever-present and brutally reactive in occupied Poland.
Much of Jan's account describes his work in the underground, the secret state, which was chiefly in intelligence gathering, propaganda, and serving as a courier. His memoir is impressive in detailing the adminstrative functions that went into creating the Polish underground, less visible than overt acts of resistance, but highly impactful in disrupting the German occupation. Published in 1944 in the United States, there is an underlying message to impress on the reader that Poland had a functioning government amidst Nazi occupation, which would create a stable and democratic state in the aftermath of the war. While wartime publishing restraints meant Karski wrote little of Polish-Soviet relations, his message was clearly meant to sway the American public in the midst of the Soviet takeover of Poland.
The other critical aspect of Karski's memoir is his report to the world, which was one of the earliest eye-witness accounts of the Holocaust in Poland. After speaking to two Jewish leaders in Poland, Karski was convinced of the unprecedented extermination of Polish Jews, and resolved to report on both the Warsaw Ghetto and the operations of the Belzec death camp. Both harrowing accounts are included in his memoir, and he used his experiences to lobby world leaders for greater action against the Holocaust after arriving in Britain in 1943.
Unfortunately, Karski's book produced neither of its goals. Poland was ultimately left to Soviet dominance with the complicity of the United States and Britain, while his accounts of the Holocaust brought little concrete action from the Allied governments. That said, his testimony did find its way into the growing number of reports on the Holocaust, although the western Allies would not fully grasp its scale until liberating the camps in 1945. More tragically, by the time Karski made his journey to Britain and the United States, the Holocaust was mostly completed in Poland.
Nevertheless, Karski's memoir is one of the best published around Poland in WWII, despite some of its omissions due to wartime politics. (For instance, Karski was not able to write negatively about the Soviet Union, or, at the behest of British publishers, he presented his unit as having fled in the early days of September 1939, when it in fact fought for three weeks.) His account, with its twists and turns, close-calls, unpredictable fates, and his skill in writing, would certainly rival any piece of fiction on the subject.
The dissapointing fact remains of the book's lack of immediate impact, although its value as an eye-witness account today is immeasurable. Of this, it seems generally true that there is an inertia in international politics when faced with global atrocities, whether from disbelief, prejudice, politics, distance, or simple material realities.
This, to paraphrase Karski, shows "the extent to which the world has become cold and unfriendly, nations and individuals seperated by immense gulfs of indifference, selfishness, and convenience. All too plainly, this marks the fact that the domination of mutual suspicion, estrangement, and lack of sympathy has progressed so far that even those who wish and strive for a remedy by every possible means are powerless and able to accomplish pitifully little."
January 28, 2018
Depois de terminar este livro, a minha primeira pergunta é: Como é que tão poucas pessoas conhecem Jan Karski? Como é que só muito recentemente, e completamente por acaso, me cruzei com ele?
Muito do que eu julgava saber sobre a Segunda Guerra Mundial foi posto em causa e parte do que me surpreendeu foi a estranha capacidade com que Karski conseguiu relatar a sua história tão factualmente. Talvez factualmente pareça não ser a palavra mais adequada (os nomes dos locais e dos outros resistentes são quase sempre alterados, por via dos perigos que ainda corriam), mas ele conseguiu cumprir mesmo aquilo que lhe foi pedido pela Resistência e pelo Governo no exílio: relatar o que se passava na Polónia e que ele testemunhou. Sem fazer juízos, sem lamentar a sorte do seu país, antes apelando a que algo fosse feito.
Com excepção dos momentos em que dá voz ao sentimento nacional polaco do desejo de que a sua integridade seja restaurada, do ódio aos invasores, do não colaboracionismo e da sua capacidade de resistência, mesmo nos momentos mais intensos da sua história pessoal sentimos que pretende apenas descrever o que se passou.
Surpreendeu-me também a minha ignorância sobre a Polónia, seja antes ou depois da Segunda Guerra Mundial. A Polónia conseguiu manter um Estado clandestino, a funcionar dentro da ocupação alemã e russa! Com polícia, exército, segurança social, educação!
É um livro bem escrito, bem organizado e com uma história muitíssimo fascinante, quer se goste de espiões, de intriga, de história ou de relatos da vida comum.
Um livro que me vai atormentar durante muito tempo.
Muito do que eu julgava saber sobre a Segunda Guerra Mundial foi posto em causa e parte do que me surpreendeu foi a estranha capacidade com que Karski conseguiu relatar a sua história tão factualmente. Talvez factualmente pareça não ser a palavra mais adequada (os nomes dos locais e dos outros resistentes são quase sempre alterados, por via dos perigos que ainda corriam), mas ele conseguiu cumprir mesmo aquilo que lhe foi pedido pela Resistência e pelo Governo no exílio: relatar o que se passava na Polónia e que ele testemunhou. Sem fazer juízos, sem lamentar a sorte do seu país, antes apelando a que algo fosse feito.
Com excepção dos momentos em que dá voz ao sentimento nacional polaco do desejo de que a sua integridade seja restaurada, do ódio aos invasores, do não colaboracionismo e da sua capacidade de resistência, mesmo nos momentos mais intensos da sua história pessoal sentimos que pretende apenas descrever o que se passou.
Surpreendeu-me também a minha ignorância sobre a Polónia, seja antes ou depois da Segunda Guerra Mundial. A Polónia conseguiu manter um Estado clandestino, a funcionar dentro da ocupação alemã e russa! Com polícia, exército, segurança social, educação!
É um livro bem escrito, bem organizado e com uma história muitíssimo fascinante, quer se goste de espiões, de intriga, de história ou de relatos da vida comum.
Um livro que me vai atormentar durante muito tempo.
September 5, 2025
mega must read
slavic literature ghört sowieso zu mine absolute favorites, das Buech isch one of history’s holy grails
Jan Karski het en so tolle Umgang mit Wörter, so real& raw
wish i could’ve read it in it’s original language
slavic literature ghört sowieso zu mine absolute favorites, das Buech isch one of history’s holy grails
Jan Karski het en so tolle Umgang mit Wörter, so real& raw
wish i could’ve read it in it’s original language
June 1, 2022
To jest książka którą trzeba przeczytać.
Read
October 20, 2011'Jan Karski' was not the man's original name. It started out as his nom du guerre, and remained as his name for the rest of his life.
Early in this book, Karski mentions that while retreating at the beginning of the war, he stopped over in what was then known as the village of Oswiecm. Later, of course, it developed much greater notoreity as the nearest town to the camp that later was named Auschwitz.
I first learned of Karski because, as a courier from the Polish Underground to the Polish government-in-exile in London, he was charged (among other messages), with reporting what he'd seen in the Warsaw ghetto and a smaller transit ghetto where some of the inmates were killed in a particularly horrible (and probably rapidly abandoned) way.
In The Terrible Secret, the response of several prominent people in Britain and the US to Karski's reports is described. In this book, Karski adds some perspective, by describing things like his escape from Poland through the Alps (he was apparently a very skilled skier) to carry out his courier duties, and the fact that after he was captured and tortured by the Gestapo, he was rescued by people who came prepared to kill him if he was unable to assist in his own escape; a precaution he agreed with, because he was afraid that he would be forced to betray his comerades otherwise.
There's a tendency to treat people as either helpless victims or victimizers, with no other categories. But very few people fall into either category. There was resistance in all places, and there was collaboration in many. In Poland there was less collaboration, largely because the Nazis were less willing to work with Polish collaborators. But the Poles still weren't a homogenous mass, nor were they even divisible solely along Christian/Jewish lines. There were Jewish collaborators in the ghettos--and there were resistance groups both inside and outside the ghettos.
Karski provides a perspective rarely seen, and the book is worth reading for that alone. But it makes a pretty good adventure story, as well.
Early in this book, Karski mentions that while retreating at the beginning of the war, he stopped over in what was then known as the village of Oswiecm. Later, of course, it developed much greater notoreity as the nearest town to the camp that later was named Auschwitz.
I first learned of Karski because, as a courier from the Polish Underground to the Polish government-in-exile in London, he was charged (among other messages), with reporting what he'd seen in the Warsaw ghetto and a smaller transit ghetto where some of the inmates were killed in a particularly horrible (and probably rapidly abandoned) way.
In The Terrible Secret, the response of several prominent people in Britain and the US to Karski's reports is described. In this book, Karski adds some perspective, by describing things like his escape from Poland through the Alps (he was apparently a very skilled skier) to carry out his courier duties, and the fact that after he was captured and tortured by the Gestapo, he was rescued by people who came prepared to kill him if he was unable to assist in his own escape; a precaution he agreed with, because he was afraid that he would be forced to betray his comerades otherwise.
There's a tendency to treat people as either helpless victims or victimizers, with no other categories. But very few people fall into either category. There was resistance in all places, and there was collaboration in many. In Poland there was less collaboration, largely because the Nazis were less willing to work with Polish collaborators. But the Poles still weren't a homogenous mass, nor were they even divisible solely along Christian/Jewish lines. There were Jewish collaborators in the ghettos--and there were resistance groups both inside and outside the ghettos.
Karski provides a perspective rarely seen, and the book is worth reading for that alone. But it makes a pretty good adventure story, as well.
March 16, 2015
First note, March 6, 2015:
Having reached page 130 of 494 pages in the Dutch edition, which has over 50 pages endnotes and an afterword by Céline Gervais-Francelle, I am already impressed, not only by the story itself, but also by the careful way the author has written his autobiography. And the most adventurous and horrendous parts still have to come.
Overall, March 16, 2015:
The story is about willpower, dedication for the country, motivation, structuring and organizing, adventurous excitement, nazi terror horror, imprisonment and torture, eye-witnessing the holocaust, diplomacy and frustration, and a good memory to put the experiences into words. That’s short for the autobiography (focussing on the period 1939-1943) of Jan Karski, who has plead and suffered, fought and struggled during the Second World War, in and on behalf of his home country Poland. Karski has erected a monument for the Polish Resistance.
The politics of the Allied of those days (1942-1944), with all the lack of understanding of the specific Polish situation, seen from a free world centre of militairy activities, held them back from giving any priority to do something directly about the holocaust, about which they have been informed in detail and with accuracy by the trustworthy witness Jan Karski.
The author is never emphasizing his own personal bravery, but pointing out to the strength of the Polish people as a collective; not the hardship itself but the idealistic purpose is backdrop and foreground. His tone is strong by restraint in that respect.
Two concluding observations:
Excellent report!
Politics: dirty business – what’s new – argggh. JM
Having reached page 130 of 494 pages in the Dutch edition, which has over 50 pages endnotes and an afterword by Céline Gervais-Francelle, I am already impressed, not only by the story itself, but also by the careful way the author has written his autobiography. And the most adventurous and horrendous parts still have to come.
Overall, March 16, 2015:
The story is about willpower, dedication for the country, motivation, structuring and organizing, adventurous excitement, nazi terror horror, imprisonment and torture, eye-witnessing the holocaust, diplomacy and frustration, and a good memory to put the experiences into words. That’s short for the autobiography (focussing on the period 1939-1943) of Jan Karski, who has plead and suffered, fought and struggled during the Second World War, in and on behalf of his home country Poland. Karski has erected a monument for the Polish Resistance.
The politics of the Allied of those days (1942-1944), with all the lack of understanding of the specific Polish situation, seen from a free world centre of militairy activities, held them back from giving any priority to do something directly about the holocaust, about which they have been informed in detail and with accuracy by the trustworthy witness Jan Karski.
The author is never emphasizing his own personal bravery, but pointing out to the strength of the Polish people as a collective; not the hardship itself but the idealistic purpose is backdrop and foreground. His tone is strong by restraint in that respect.
Two concluding observations:
Excellent report!
Politics: dirty business – what’s new – argggh. JM
April 8, 2024
Far more so than the beaches of Barcelona or the vineyards of southern France, eastern Europe has always encapsulated my interest. Following a booked flight to Krakow I sought after a book that could give me a glimpse inwards at the history and culture of Poland, thus I landed on the "Story of a Secret State" by Jan Karski.
Little was I aware that upon reading this book I would discover a newfound hero to aspire to, an adventurer, a man who put his life on the line for not just the good of his own country but for the good of humankind itself.
From the first page I was drawn into the movie-like storyline of Karski's life, feeling that I was living the adventure again alongside him. This incredible and detailed account of German-occupied Poland and the resistance of the Polish underground state, is an important testament to the sacrifices and dedication of the men women and children who served their country with undying loyalty dreaming of a free Poland.
Who am I or anyone to leave a review that toasts anything less than pure admiration for this book and its author, I firmly believe you would be at a loss to find a more fascinating memoir than Karski's.
Little was I aware that upon reading this book I would discover a newfound hero to aspire to, an adventurer, a man who put his life on the line for not just the good of his own country but for the good of humankind itself.
From the first page I was drawn into the movie-like storyline of Karski's life, feeling that I was living the adventure again alongside him. This incredible and detailed account of German-occupied Poland and the resistance of the Polish underground state, is an important testament to the sacrifices and dedication of the men women and children who served their country with undying loyalty dreaming of a free Poland.
Who am I or anyone to leave a review that toasts anything less than pure admiration for this book and its author, I firmly believe you would be at a loss to find a more fascinating memoir than Karski's.
May 22, 2012
This is an amazing biography. There is enough action, political intrigue, and horror for 3 or 4 movies. An unbelievable true story of a man secretly and abruptly called to war from his world of elite society parties. Captured by the Russians, he escapes by posing as a working-class private right into a German cattle car enroute to a "camp." Escaping from the Gestapo multiple times, Karski finds himself as courier, spy and propagandist in the Polish underground. At one point he even sold bonds for the underground government, in Poland, under the nose of the Germans! Through the war he finds out the hard way who his true friends are. He witnesses the outrageous atrocities of the Germans by sneaking in and out of the Warsaw ghetto and concentration camps dressed as a guard. Through it all, Karski transmits the indomitable free spirit of the Poles to the allied west in a plain, understated style.
March 31, 2020
Very moving, adrenaline inducing and touching in an unique way. A story of a true hero. I'm ashamed to say I've not ever considered Poland's role in the war, and what a fascinating and sorrowful part they had. I was amazed id not considered the cultural genocide that Germany performed on Poland, and the story of the resistance and heroism within the fighting underground made me proud. All lovers of WW2 history should read this book.
September 16, 2012
Really enjoyed the book. It's written by a professor, sadly now deceased, of mine at Georgetown. Karski has got to be one of the few people smuggled into and out of the Nazi death camps in Poland. He eventually gained a private interview with FDR, giving the President undeniable proof of what the Nazis were doing in the death camps. Sadly the allies did not act on Karski's information.
June 18, 2024
“Те, кто не жил под властью нацистов, никогда не смогут представить себе силу этой ненависти и вряд ли поймут, почему так легко мы утратили все этические принципы и нормы, принятые в цивилизованном обществе. В нас не осталось ничего, кроме отчаяния зверя, попавшего в западню. И мы защищались всеми средствами, допустимыми в ожесточенной борьбе с врагом, который стремится тебя уничтожить. Польша сопротивлялась, как дикая кошка, впивающаяся когтями в обидчика. Не думаю, чтобы когда-либо еще за всю историю христианского мира происходило нечто подобное и в таких масштабах.”
Ян Карский (Козелевский) was a very famous person for all the world (except for the USSR and post-war “Soviet block,” of course) and this book was one of the first and most impressive evidence about the Nazi atrocities in occupied Poland (including the Holocaust) and about work of the Polish Resistance.
Ян Карский was an officer in the Polish army and he was among those units that were captured and taken as prisoners of war by the Soviet troops, but then he was one of those soldiers who were “exchanged” by the Soviets with the Nazis. He was lucky to escape after all and soon joined the Polish Resistance. He performed various tasks for the Resistance and once was even captured and tortured by the Gestapo (but, again, miraculously saved and released by his comrades from the Resistance). After all, it was decided that Ян Карский should travel abroad to meet with the leaders of the Allies and to deliver personal evidence and supporting materials (microfilms, etc.) so that the world would learn about the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes. For this mission, Ян Карский was secretly taken into Jewish ghettos where he saw many of the atrocities personally, talked to people inside the system (both victims and accomplices), and then retold all this in the U.S. and Europe (including a personal meeting with the president of the United States Franklin Roosevelt and many other prominent public figures). It’s difficult to say now whether his reports made any difference then; Ян Карский himself was sure that he was not heard and believed properly, but it is possible that his evidence was one of those important pieces of the global historical puzzle that eventually forced the Allies to be more determined and choose between the Nazis and the Soviets.
From wikipedia:
“После войны Карский остался в США и стал профессором Джорджтаунского университета. Он защитил докторскую диссертацию по политологии, в 1954 году получил американское гражданство.
В 1965 году он женился на польской еврейке Полине Ниренской, известной танцовщице и хореографе, все родственники которой погибли во время Холокоста.
В 1978 году он участвовал в фильме «Шоа», что способствовало осознанию мировой общественностью его усилий с целью остановить Холокост. Много лет спустя, в 2010 году режиссером ленты Клодом Ланцманом был смонтирован еще один фильм о Карском под названием «Доклад Карского».
В 1982 году получил звание Праведника мира от института Яд ва-Шем, в 1994 году почётное гражданство государства Израиль.
На пресс-конференции в Вашингтоне в 1982 году Карский сказал: «Бог выбрал меня, чтобы Запад узнал о трагедии в Польше. Тогда мне казалось, что эта информация поможет спасти миллионы людей. Это не помогло, я ошибался. В 1942 году, в Варшавском гетто и в Избице Любельской я стал польским евреем…
Семья моей жены (все они погибли в гетто и в лагерях смерти), все замученные евреи Польши стали моей семьей. При этом я остаюсь католиком. Я католический еврей. Моя вера говорит мне: второй первородный грех, которое человечество совершило в отношении евреев в годы Второй мировой войны в Европе, будет преследовать его до конца времен…»
В 1995 году Карский был награждён польским орденом Белого Орла.
Он почётный доктор восьми университетов США и Польши. В 1996 году в Польше о нём был снят документальный фильм «Моя миссия».
В 1998 году он был номинирован на Нобелевскую премию мира.
На похороны Карского прибыли президент США Клинтон и президент Польши Квасьневский.
В 2012 году президент США Барак Обама наградил Яна Карского Президентской медалью Свободы посмертно.”
This book was written as part of his evidence and was first published in the U.S. as early as in 1944. It was printed in a huge amount of copies (360,000), and all of them were sold almost immediately; later, there were more reprints and translations into various languages. Surely, neither the USSR nor Poland itself was able to see this book until the 1990s. I have read a Russian edition of 2012, and, as I understand, this is the first edition of this book ever published in Russian. Well, better late than never… However, I doubt that many people read it in modern Russia.
It should be said that the book was self-censored by Ян Карский (after the respective request from the publishers) in order to eliminate as many evidence about SOVIET atrocities as possible and all negative accounts about the USSR overall. Still, we can see here and there some mentions which tell us that the USSR and their NKVD were probably even more evil and powerful than the Nazis and their famous Gestapo. After all, I believe, the very fact that Ян Карский was able to escape from the Nazis being their prisoner of war tells a lot; it is obvious that if he stayed in the USSR, he would most probably be dead in several months. Similarly, if he were captured and tortured by the NKVD, he would never see the world again and nobody would save him from there. No escape, no Resistance.
The most important part of the book, in my opinion, is the story of the Polish Resistance overall, which was an absolutely unprecedented phenomenon (again, we should note here for ourselves that all this was possible only on the territory occupied by the Nazis; there was NO Resistance on the Soviet-occupied part — its organizers were found and killed by the USSR very quickly even before 1941, while the Polish Resistance was pretty much functioning under Germany until the very end of the war). The book has a subtitle “История подпольного государства,” and these are the key words for understanding the Polish Resistance overall: it was organized and managed as a well-developed underground state, and there is a lot of very interesting information about the principles of its work, its organization, and many of its activities (although, considering that the book was written and published when Poland was still under Germany and the war continued, many things were simplified or described only in the most general form, many participants were anonymized, and many particular tactics and secrets were omitted). I think there was nothing like this in any other country during this war (or probably any war at all). When you read all this, you feel how proud Polish people should be about their tragic and yet so heroic history.
The most tragic in all this was that although the events of 1939 were a wake-up call for Poles about the necessity to return to democracy (and the Polish Resistance was organized and worked as a new, better, democratic state than Poland was before the war), Poland wasn’t able to build a new democratic state even after 1945. That’s probably why we can see its backward movement right now, because the USSR killed all the democratic aspirations for many generations, accomplishing successfully what Nazi Germany could not do.
For us, who already know about the Holocaust in all its gory details, Ян Карский’s account about what he had seen in Jewish ghettos do not look very impressive, but reading this, you should remember that even these (quite superficial) reports looked absolutely unbelievable when they were presented in Europe and the U.S.
If you would like to read this book, please do not pay much attention to his style. He was obviously not a writer, and those places where he talks about his life, conversations with other people, and events from his own experience look quite artificial and flat. This is not because all this was not true; he is just not a good writer, and that’s OK, because his book is interesting and valuable in all the other parts.
Ян Карский (Козелевский) was a very famous person for all the world (except for the USSR and post-war “Soviet block,” of course) and this book was one of the first and most impressive evidence about the Nazi atrocities in occupied Poland (including the Holocaust) and about work of the Polish Resistance.
Ян Карский was an officer in the Polish army and he was among those units that were captured and taken as prisoners of war by the Soviet troops, but then he was one of those soldiers who were “exchanged” by the Soviets with the Nazis. He was lucky to escape after all and soon joined the Polish Resistance. He performed various tasks for the Resistance and once was even captured and tortured by the Gestapo (but, again, miraculously saved and released by his comrades from the Resistance). After all, it was decided that Ян Карский should travel abroad to meet with the leaders of the Allies and to deliver personal evidence and supporting materials (microfilms, etc.) so that the world would learn about the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes. For this mission, Ян Карский was secretly taken into Jewish ghettos where he saw many of the atrocities personally, talked to people inside the system (both victims and accomplices), and then retold all this in the U.S. and Europe (including a personal meeting with the president of the United States Franklin Roosevelt and many other prominent public figures). It’s difficult to say now whether his reports made any difference then; Ян Карский himself was sure that he was not heard and believed properly, but it is possible that his evidence was one of those important pieces of the global historical puzzle that eventually forced the Allies to be more determined and choose between the Nazis and the Soviets.
From wikipedia:
“После войны Карский остался в США и стал профессором Джорджтаунского университета. Он защитил докторскую диссертацию по политологии, в 1954 году получил американское гражданство.
В 1965 году он женился на польской еврейке Полине Ниренской, известной танцовщице и хореографе, все родственники которой погибли во время Холокоста.
В 1978 году он участвовал в фильме «Шоа», что способствовало осознанию мировой общественностью его усилий с целью остановить Холокост. Много лет спустя, в 2010 году режиссером ленты Клодом Ланцманом был смонтирован еще один фильм о Карском под названием «Доклад Карского».
В 1982 году получил звание Праведника мира от института Яд ва-Шем, в 1994 году почётное гражданство государства Израиль.
На пресс-конференции в Вашингтоне в 1982 году Карский сказал: «Бог выбрал меня, чтобы Запад узнал о трагедии в Польше. Тогда мне казалось, что эта информация поможет спасти миллионы людей. Это не помогло, я ошибался. В 1942 году, в Варшавском гетто и в Избице Любельской я стал польским евреем…
Семья моей жены (все они погибли в гетто и в лагерях смерти), все замученные евреи Польши стали моей семьей. При этом я остаюсь католиком. Я католический еврей. Моя вера говорит мне: второй первородный грех, которое человечество совершило в отношении евреев в годы Второй мировой войны в Европе, будет преследовать его до конца времен…»
В 1995 году Карский был награждён польским орденом Белого Орла.
Он почётный доктор восьми университетов США и Польши. В 1996 году в Польше о нём был снят документальный фильм «Моя миссия».
В 1998 году он был номинирован на Нобелевскую премию мира.
На похороны Карского прибыли президент США Клинтон и президент Польши Квасьневский.
В 2012 году президент США Барак Обама наградил Яна Карского Президентской медалью Свободы посмертно.”
This book was written as part of his evidence and was first published in the U.S. as early as in 1944. It was printed in a huge amount of copies (360,000), and all of them were sold almost immediately; later, there were more reprints and translations into various languages. Surely, neither the USSR nor Poland itself was able to see this book until the 1990s. I have read a Russian edition of 2012, and, as I understand, this is the first edition of this book ever published in Russian. Well, better late than never… However, I doubt that many people read it in modern Russia.
It should be said that the book was self-censored by Ян Карский (after the respective request from the publishers) in order to eliminate as many evidence about SOVIET atrocities as possible and all negative accounts about the USSR overall. Still, we can see here and there some mentions which tell us that the USSR and their NKVD were probably even more evil and powerful than the Nazis and their famous Gestapo. After all, I believe, the very fact that Ян Карский was able to escape from the Nazis being their prisoner of war tells a lot; it is obvious that if he stayed in the USSR, he would most probably be dead in several months. Similarly, if he were captured and tortured by the NKVD, he would never see the world again and nobody would save him from there. No escape, no Resistance.
The most important part of the book, in my opinion, is the story of the Polish Resistance overall, which was an absolutely unprecedented phenomenon (again, we should note here for ourselves that all this was possible only on the territory occupied by the Nazis; there was NO Resistance on the Soviet-occupied part — its organizers were found and killed by the USSR very quickly even before 1941, while the Polish Resistance was pretty much functioning under Germany until the very end of the war). The book has a subtitle “История подпольного государства,” and these are the key words for understanding the Polish Resistance overall: it was organized and managed as a well-developed underground state, and there is a lot of very interesting information about the principles of its work, its organization, and many of its activities (although, considering that the book was written and published when Poland was still under Germany and the war continued, many things were simplified or described only in the most general form, many participants were anonymized, and many particular tactics and secrets were omitted). I think there was nothing like this in any other country during this war (or probably any war at all). When you read all this, you feel how proud Polish people should be about their tragic and yet so heroic history.
The most tragic in all this was that although the events of 1939 were a wake-up call for Poles about the necessity to return to democracy (and the Polish Resistance was organized and worked as a new, better, democratic state than Poland was before the war), Poland wasn’t able to build a new democratic state even after 1945. That’s probably why we can see its backward movement right now, because the USSR killed all the democratic aspirations for many generations, accomplishing successfully what Nazi Germany could not do.
For us, who already know about the Holocaust in all its gory details, Ян Карский’s account about what he had seen in Jewish ghettos do not look very impressive, but reading this, you should remember that even these (quite superficial) reports looked absolutely unbelievable when they were presented in Europe and the U.S.
If you would like to read this book, please do not pay much attention to his style. He was obviously not a writer, and those places where he talks about his life, conversations with other people, and events from his own experience look quite artificial and flat. This is not because all this was not true; he is just not a good writer, and that’s OK, because his book is interesting and valuable in all the other parts.
November 13, 2018
If you're looking for a feel good story don't even think about picking this book up. But if you're looking for a different perspective on World War II this is your book. Told from the author's first person perspective it chronicles his experiences in the Polish Underground as they attempted to fight the German (and Russian on the eastern border) occupations. It's a dark and troubling book. The last few chapters cover his time in the Warsaw ghetto and one of the concentration camps. His descriptions are brutal and real and, as one might expect, revolting. But he never flinches from the truth here. That last chapter may actually make you angry as he literally travels the world telling world leaders of the German atrocities and no one believes him and no action is taken. I don't often read history books but this is one of the best I have ever read. Very well written and the author's story is one I'd been unaware of. I highly recommend it.
December 19, 2023
I can't criticise this book by Jan Karski, it would be like criticising him and I have nothing but admiration for what he did and his courage. But I can't say that it is necessary to read this book now - there are way to many better histories of the holocaust and also about the complexities and difficulties of the Allied powers response, or apparent lack of response, to the problem of the holocaust.
Of course as a first hand account it is invaluable and important but it is more a monument to a man then a way of understanding the events he tried to bring to the attention of the world.
Of course as a first hand account it is invaluable and important but it is more a monument to a man then a way of understanding the events he tried to bring to the attention of the world.
December 9, 2017
Incredible book. The story of an underground agent in WWII Poland, who experiences kidnapping, torture, witnesses death camps, the Warsaw ghetto, and describes it vividly. It reads like an adventure story, except it's all real and teaches you a lot about the German occupation of Poland. Can't recommend this enough
July 9, 2025
I didn't know much about the polish resistance during ww2, so I learned a lot from this book. Jan Karski was lucky enough to escape many times and to tell his story, which reveals a lot of valuable historical information. It becomes clear in his account how much love he had for his country and how much he sacrificed for it.
February 4, 2015
When I was a child my Grandad used to enthral me with stories from his life. Being young in the early 1970's WWII was still fresh for many. My Grandad had a special sympathy for POland, he's never been to Poland but I remember him frequently referring to the "poor Poles" and how they had struggled, suffered and been betrayed as a nation. I suppose that is where my interest in this complex and historically important player on the European scene started. I think that to many people Poland is "just" another country somewhere in the East and it's significance as a key player in the politics and development of Europe, like that of most countries of Central and Eastern Europe, is lost on them. In the years leading up to WWII Poland was experiencing something of a renaissance having regained it's independence and emerging victorious from a conflict with revolutionary Russia to embark on a difficult process towards becoming a modern state. While marrred by internal conflict and authoritarianism what reemerged was a people with a solid identity based on language, Catholicism and a long and turbulant history as a power to be reckoned with.
Jan Karski's story deals with the end of Poland's brief independence and its brutal invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany. First published at the end of the war it is a fisrt hand account of Karski's role as a key member of the Polish Resistance and a record of Poland's exerience of those years. Poland and her people suffered a long and brutal occupation by a power that saw her as something to be cleansed from the face of the Earth to provide the master race with room for growth. During the war of liberation Karski rose to effectively become a key diplomat for the resistance travelling across occupied Europe, liasing with the Polish Government in excile, the leaders of the resistence in occupied Poland and meeting with leaders of the Allied Powers fighting the Axis. In the process Karski had many close calls and was at one point captured and tortured by the Gestapo, he only escaped with his life thanks to the daring of fighters of the Polish Socialist Party. In POland the Nazi occupation forces came up against one of the most united and determined national resisytence movements. Poland provided no Quislings and the population remained united in its resistence to occupation and the State in its refusal to surrender. In response the Nazi regime implemented a policy of "collective responsibility" for acts of resistence and the Resistence ruthlessly eliminated collaborators, traitors and leading members of the occupying power. Under interrogation by the Nazis his interrogator comments on the fact that Poles are a "curious exception" to the rest of the occupied world in refusing to collaborate on any level.
Karski gives an excellent first hand description of life both as a member of the Underground and the life of the average Pole under occupation. Despite the permenant extra risk experienced as an active member of the Resistence Karski describes the lot of the Resistence member as enjoying considerable advantages over the rest of the population having access to the protection of an efficient organisation, good documents enabling travel, safe houses, extra rations and money while generally being less likley to be caught up in reprisals. The balance being the dire consequences of being captured as a member of the Resistence. This is perhaps most clearly demonstrated by the role played by the "Liason Women" of the Resistence who worked as contacts between groups of Resistence members and ran suicidal risks that saw them last maybe only a few months. If captured alive they were subject to horrific torture that Karski describes despite it being of the nature generally described as indescribable.
As part of his attempt to bring the true horror of The Nazi occupation and the "Final Solution" to the attention of the Allies Jan Karski undertook the most daring and horrific task of his life - going as an eyewitness to the Warsaw Ghetto and to Belzec death camp where he was eye witness to crimes against humanity of such a magnitude that no one wanted to beleive that such things could be true. Jan Karski records "The images of what I saw in the death camp are, I am afraid, my permenant possessions. I would like nothing better than to purge my mind of those memories (...) I would like simply to be free of them, to obliterate the very thought that such things ever occurred".
During the war the Polish Underground continued to function as a State "with a parliament, government, judicial branch and army". Poland in many ways shone the torch for the meaning of total resistence refusing compromise or the passivity which threatened surrender elsewhere in Europe. It was a resistence that was to cost the lives of millions of Poles. The trun of events in the post-war world meant that the independent Poland that was fought for was not to be and the heroicism of the Polish resistence became eclipsed by Realpolitick. The republication of Jan Karski's record of events goes some way to redressing the balance and keeping the meomry alive. Very highly recommended.
Jan Karski's story deals with the end of Poland's brief independence and its brutal invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany. First published at the end of the war it is a fisrt hand account of Karski's role as a key member of the Polish Resistance and a record of Poland's exerience of those years. Poland and her people suffered a long and brutal occupation by a power that saw her as something to be cleansed from the face of the Earth to provide the master race with room for growth. During the war of liberation Karski rose to effectively become a key diplomat for the resistance travelling across occupied Europe, liasing with the Polish Government in excile, the leaders of the resistence in occupied Poland and meeting with leaders of the Allied Powers fighting the Axis. In the process Karski had many close calls and was at one point captured and tortured by the Gestapo, he only escaped with his life thanks to the daring of fighters of the Polish Socialist Party. In POland the Nazi occupation forces came up against one of the most united and determined national resisytence movements. Poland provided no Quislings and the population remained united in its resistence to occupation and the State in its refusal to surrender. In response the Nazi regime implemented a policy of "collective responsibility" for acts of resistence and the Resistence ruthlessly eliminated collaborators, traitors and leading members of the occupying power. Under interrogation by the Nazis his interrogator comments on the fact that Poles are a "curious exception" to the rest of the occupied world in refusing to collaborate on any level.
Karski gives an excellent first hand description of life both as a member of the Underground and the life of the average Pole under occupation. Despite the permenant extra risk experienced as an active member of the Resistence Karski describes the lot of the Resistence member as enjoying considerable advantages over the rest of the population having access to the protection of an efficient organisation, good documents enabling travel, safe houses, extra rations and money while generally being less likley to be caught up in reprisals. The balance being the dire consequences of being captured as a member of the Resistence. This is perhaps most clearly demonstrated by the role played by the "Liason Women" of the Resistence who worked as contacts between groups of Resistence members and ran suicidal risks that saw them last maybe only a few months. If captured alive they were subject to horrific torture that Karski describes despite it being of the nature generally described as indescribable.
As part of his attempt to bring the true horror of The Nazi occupation and the "Final Solution" to the attention of the Allies Jan Karski undertook the most daring and horrific task of his life - going as an eyewitness to the Warsaw Ghetto and to Belzec death camp where he was eye witness to crimes against humanity of such a magnitude that no one wanted to beleive that such things could be true. Jan Karski records "The images of what I saw in the death camp are, I am afraid, my permenant possessions. I would like nothing better than to purge my mind of those memories (...) I would like simply to be free of them, to obliterate the very thought that such things ever occurred".
During the war the Polish Underground continued to function as a State "with a parliament, government, judicial branch and army". Poland in many ways shone the torch for the meaning of total resistence refusing compromise or the passivity which threatened surrender elsewhere in Europe. It was a resistence that was to cost the lives of millions of Poles. The trun of events in the post-war world meant that the independent Poland that was fought for was not to be and the heroicism of the Polish resistence became eclipsed by Realpolitick. The republication of Jan Karski's record of events goes some way to redressing the balance and keeping the meomry alive. Very highly recommended.
December 15, 2025
Damn, took too long with this one. Think this was my first memoir? Got this book in Poland to learn about Karski and a bit of Polish history. They are a tough group of people, and this was just illustrating how they responded to occupation during WWII, I can’t imagine before and beyond that period of time. Karski as an author was pretty good, but you can tell based on how he writes about women that it was written a long time ago. It was crazy to read this while living in Germany, and crazier how much this country has changed since then. I have absolutely gained a new respect for the Poles after this.
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