Karski's story is inextricably linked with the events of World War II. It was then that this clever diplomat - a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Diplomacy and the Cadet School – found himself in Russian captivity. Only by stroke of luck did Karski escape from the train, which was going to Katyń forest - a place of the murder of 22 thousand Poles.

As a fugitive he got to Warsaw and made contact with representatives of the Polish Underground State. Karski's skills - knowledge of foreign languages and photographic memory - secured him a job as an emissary, transmitting information about the situation in the occupied country.

Karski's missions proved to be difficult and were associated with frequent, risky trips abroad (the official Polish government in exile was located in France and then in London). During one of the expeditions, he was arrested by the Gestapo. He did not admit to being part of the conspiracy even under torture. He was ready to commit suicide, but was eventually rescued by soldiers of the underground.

In 1942 Jan Karski received his most important mission - to inform the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States of the tragic situation of Polish Jews. Karski's reports were preceded by a detailed diagnosis, including a daring infiltration of the Warsaw ghetto, which the emissary visited twice.

Karski's terrifying reports found their way to leading British and American politicians, journalists and artists. His appeals did not receive, however, a response - they were ignored or were not given faith.

Supporting the Polish government in exile prevented Karski from returning to the country which found itself after WWII under Communist rule. He settled in the United States and took a job as a lecturer. In 1944 he published a book - Story of a secret state, describing the history of the Polish Underground State. It quickly became a best-seller in the US and was translated into other languages.

In the last twenty years of his life Jan Karski returned to his unfinished mission and openly talked about the times of war. During the lectures and meetings in the US, Israel and Poland, he spoke about the extermination of the Jews, his own attempts to bring this to the attention of the world and the actions that should be taken to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Popularization of pacifism, tolerance and a reminder of events of the Holocaust has brought Karski many supporters. He received many awards and distinctions, including the title of Righteous Among the Nations and the Order of the White Eagle - the highest Polish state distinction.

Jan Karski died on July 13, 2000. He was buried in Washington. During the funeral he was honoured by the presidents of the US and Poland - Bill Clinton and Aleksander Kwaśniewski.

Do you know?

• The grounds of the Warsaw ghetto and the transit camp in Izbica Lublin, where Jews were transported to concentration camps, were infiltrated by Karski in disguise. For example, in one of them he was in the semblance of a Ukrainian soldier.
• One of the students of Jan Karski was the future US president Bill Clinton.
• Due to censorship and difficulties in publishing, a Polish translation of the book Story of a secret state appeared on the market only in 1999. More than fifty years after the publication of the original.
• A series of monumental sculptures, the so-called Karski benches were created to commemorate him. You can find them in Warsaw next to the Museum of Polish Jews, as well as in Kielce, Łódź, New York, Washington and Tel Aviv.