Drawing heavily on Karski’s war memoir Story of a Secret State, the exhibition details his final mission from German occupied Poland when he was charged with bringing an eyewitness account of the Holocaust to skeptical Allied leaders, including British foreign secretary Anthony Eden and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It recounts his secret visits to the ghetto in Warsaw and to a transit camp of Izbica Lubelska, where, in his own words, “the chaos, the squalor, the hideousness of it all was indescribable.”
The opening of the exhibition was honored by the presence of Minister Jacek Michałowski, Chief of the Chancellery of the President of Poland, and Minister of State for Multiculturalism Tim Uppal. While opening the exhibit The Director General of the CWM James Whitham stressed, that “Jan Karski’s story is one of courage and compassion”. His legacy lies in his values: courage in the face of adversity, tolerance toward all people, and speaking truth to those in power. Citing Jan Karski’s words “I was an insignificant little man. My mission was important”, Ambassador of Poland Marcin Bosacki recognized that Karski is one of numerous examples of Poles who acted in face of evil and injustice. Over 6 thousand Poles were recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations, those who gave shelter to Jews persecuted by the Germans. For his endeavors to safe the Jews Jan Karski was also recognized with this title. And in 2012, he was posthumously awarded by the US President Barack Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. These awards may have a chance to be matched soon by a Canadian award for Karski. While speaking during the panel discussion accompanying the exhibition on Nov.17 th, at the CWM, Hon. Minister Jason Kenney presented the initiative to be undertaken by the Canadian Parliament to award Jan Karski with the title “Hero of Humanity”.
“Breaking the silence” was the motif of remarks by the Irwin Cotler, who moderated the panel discussion of experts presenting in detail the history of Polish underground and Karski’s wartime missions. Members of the panel included Holocaust Survivor Pinchas Gutter, Andrzej Żbikowski, Professor at Jewish Historical Institute (Poland), Dr. Gideon Greif from Yad Vashem Institute, Jan Grabowski, Professor of History at the University of Ottawa and Wanda Urbanska President of Jan Karski Educational Foundation. A special guest to the exhibit was Kaja Mirecka-Ploss, honorary Chair of Jan Karski Institute for Tolerance and Dialogue and a long-time friend of Karski.
The exhibition THE WORLD KNEW — Jan Karski’s Mission for Humanity was produced by the Polish History Museum in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland and the Jan Karski Educational Foundation. Support was provided by the Canadian Chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the Shoah Committee of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, the Embassies of Israel and the United States of America, the Canadian Polish Congress, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Department of History of the University of Ottawa. Presentation of the exhibit in Ottawa has been a part of Holocaust Education Month program.
The story of Jan Karski will be presented in Canada during multiple events in the following 2014 year, celebrating Karski’s centennial.
Photo © Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ottawa
Source: Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ottawa