Obj. ID: 33310
Modern Jewish Art Monument to Jan Karski in Warsaw, Poland, 2013
Memorial Name
no official name
Who is Commemorated?
Jan Karski
Description:
The bronze sculpture represents the figure of Jan Karski seated on a large chair or small couch, with his legs crossed, and his left hand at his chin in a pensive pose. The couch is set at an angle on a square base.
Karski’s bench provides the visitors with a chance to listen to Jan Karski himself. When you press the button one hears a few selected fragments of the interview with him in Polish.
Inscriptions
JAN KARSKI (KOZIELEWSKI)
1914-2000
EMISARIUSZ WŁADZ
POLSKIEGO PAŃSTWA PODZIEMNEGO,
PROFESOR UNIWERSYTETU
GEORGETOWN W WASZYNGTONIE,
“SPRAWIEDLIWY
WSROD NARODÓW ŚWIATA”,
ODZNACZONY
ORDEREM ORŁA BIAŁEGO,
NOMINOWANY
DO POKOJOWOJ NAGRODY NOBLA,
CZŁOWIEK,
Który chcił powstrzymać
HOLOKAUST.
WARSZAWA 2012 R.
Translation: Jan Karski (Kozielewski) / 1914-2000 / Authorized emissary of the Polish underground state, university professor, Georgetown, Washington, “Righteous among the nations of the world”, decorated with the Order of the White Eagle, nominated to the Nobel Peace Prize, a man who wanted to stop the Holocaust. / Warsaw 2012
Commissioned by
To Be Determined
9 image(s)
sub-set tree:
| Anielewicza St. 6 (in a park near intersection of Zamenhofa)
Jan Karski (1914-2000) – was an emissary and courier of the Polish Secret State during World War II. As a witness of the Holocaust, he presented his famous “Karski Report” on the mass murder of Jews in occupied Poland to the governments of the Allied powers.
The statue is one of several representations of Karski, sculpted by Karol Badyna and installed around the world. It was unveiled on June 11, 2013, in the square in front of POLIN, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The bench was created thanks to the efforts of Ewa Wierzynska, of the “Jan Karski. Unfinished Mission” program at the Polish History Museum.
The ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, the director of the Museum of Polish History Robert Kostro, the director of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews Andrzej Cudak, representatives of the Jewish community, Jewish organizations, and the Polish Society of the Righteous among the Nations, and diplomats including journalist Maciej Wierzynski, representatives of the Righteous Among the Nations (among them Polish Ambassador Ryszard Schnepf’s mother, Alicja Schnepf, who is chairman of the Polish Society of Righteous), Adam Daniel Rotfeld (former Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs), Jacek Kozlowski (the Voivode of Warsaw), Krzysztof Kasprzyk (former Consul General of Poland in New York), Zvi Rav-Ner (Ambassador of Israel in Poland) and Robin Barnett (the Ambassador of Great Britain in Poland). It took place e the day before the start of a two-day visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Poland.
Warsaw Unveils New Karski Bench!.” Jan Karski Educational Foundation website, June 11, 2013, https://www.jankarski.net/en/news/warsaw-unveils-a-karski-bench.html) (accessed May 28, 2023)
“Jan Karski bench unveiled in Warsaw,” POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews website, https://polin.pl/en/news/2013/06/11/jan-karski-bench-unveiled-warsaw (accessed May 28, 2023)