STREET TO BE NAMED FOR HERO JAN KARSKI

Consul General Krzysztof Kasprzyk With Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka,
Rabbi Meir Lau, Cantor Joseph Malowany And Former Mayor Edward Koch

Jan Karski, the Polish Emissary who first brought the news to Allied Leaders about the atrocities of the Holocaust will be honored by the Consulate of The Republic of Poland with the designation of Madison Avenue & 37th Street as Jan Karski Corner on Thursday, April 16. In honor of Jan Karski, Krzysztof W. Kasprzyk, the Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York and Georgetown University will preside over a special ceremony honoring the legendary World War II Polish Underground courier, Jan Karski, who was the first person to bring news of the Holocaust directly to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and English Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1942-43.In recognition of Karski’s wartime courage and lifelong commitment to the memory and history of Polish Jews, Poland will memorialize Karski with the unveiling of a new street sign in front of the De Lamar Mansion, the Consulate’s residence at 233 Madison Avenue at East 37th Street, which will be officially designated Jan Karski Corner during the ceremony. This special tribute was made possible by a unanimously accepted special resolution by the New York City Council and signed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Polish, New York, Jewish-American and international dignitaries expected to attend the unveiling on Thursday, April 16, 2009 including Maciej Kozlowski, former Ambassador of The Republic of Poland to Israel, The Honorable Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, Secretary of State at the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Folwarczny, President of the Forum of the Dialogue Among Nations Foundation, Warsaw, Ewa Wierzynska, Director of Development of the Museum of History of Polish Jews, Warsaw, The Honorable Edward I. Koch, former Mayor of New York and special guest speaker John J. DeGioia, current President of Georgetown University. Following the Ceremony, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Robert Gallucci, Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University with a group of elderly heroes- Righteous Among Nations - flying in from Poland for this special occasion. They will include Anna Bando, Alicia Schnepf, Jozef Walaszczyk, Tadeusz Stankiewicz and Ireneusz Rajchowski. Also included in the panel will be Children of the Holocaust Krystyna Budnicka and Barbara Gora.
Photo By: Jerzy Koss