Jan Karski statue

Jan Kozielewski aka, Karski (June 24, 1914 - July 13, 2000) was a Polish resistance fighter in WWII and later a professor at Georgetown University.

During WWII Karski was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Krakow Valvary Brigade who was captured after the battle of Tomaszow by the Russians. He was handed over to the Germans because of his birthplace and escaped the Katyn massacre.

Karski escaped his POW train in 1939 and escaped to Warsaw where he joined the Polish resistance movement. Jan organized courier missions to the Polish Government in exile in Paris and made several secret trips to France and Britain. Karski was eventually captured by the Gestapo and tortured in Slovakia but was later smuggled out and rejoined the movement.

In 1942 Karski was tasked with a secret mission to expose the Nazi atrocities by gathering evidence for the Polish and later the Allies. Karski was able to provide some of the earliest and most accurate information on the Holocaust. Karski's findings were later delivered to the United Nations in 1942. Karski was also tasked with meeting American statesmen, film stars and President Franklin D. Roosevelt in explaining the situation in Poland in order to gain support. His book, "Courier from Poland: The Story of a Secret State" sold more than 400,00 copies.

After the war Karski began his studies at Georgetown University, receiving his Ph.D in 1952. He later taught at Georgetown for 40 years in the areas of East European affairs, governments and international affairs.

In 1982 Karski was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations. In 1991, he received the Wallenberg Medal from the University of Michigan for his outstanding humanitarian efforts. Karski died in 2000 and is buried in Washington, D.C.