The conference “Jan Karski. The Man of Freedom,” which took place at Aoyama Gaukin University in Tokyo on 27 September 2014, was accompanied with a Japanese-language exhibition prepared by the Polish History Museum under the same title. The symposium and the exhibition are the highlights of Jan Karski Year celebrations drawing to a close in Japan.
“We would like to familiarize the visitors with who Jan Karski was and what he accomplished not only historically but also in the context of universal values carried by his humanist activity, which was full of devotion to others,” says Jarosław Waczyński from the Polish Institute in Tokyo.
The symposium was attended by: Professor Christopher W.A. Szpilman from Kyushu Sangyo University, the writer Osamu Ikeuchi, Professor Toshihiro Kokubu and Professor Satoshi Warita, both from Aoyama Gakuin University.
What has also made it possible for the people of Japan to get to know the accomplishments of Jan Karski were the Japanese translations of the books: “Jan Karski” by Yannick Haenel (published in 2011) and “Story of a Secret State” by Jan Karski (published in Japanese in 2012).
Prior to the symposium, films devoted to World War II and the Holocaust were shown at Aoyama Gakuin University in August and at the beginning of September. Some of the movies screened were “The Pianist” directed by Roman Polański and “Schindler’s List” by Steven Spielberg.
The exhibition will be open at the Yuki-Sis Gallery in Tokyo from 10 until 13 October, and at the El Plaza Hall in Sapporo from 27 October until 9 November. The event was made possible thanks to cooperation with the Friends of Polish Culture Association in Hokkaido.
Photo © Nobuo Murata
Source: Polish Institute in Tokyo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs RP Press Office