SRES 626 IS
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 626
Designating April 24, 2014, as ‘Jan Karski Day’.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 20, 2012
Mr. LUGAR submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
RESOLUTION
Designating April 24, 2014, as ‘Jan Karski Day’.
Whereas Jan Karski was born on April 24, 1914, in Lodz, Poland;
Whereas Jan Karski escaped the Soviet massacre in the Katyn forest in 1940;
Whereas Jan Karski became a key emissary in the Polish underground resistance against Nazi occupation;
Whereas Jan Karski chose to risk his own life by staying in Poland after escaping a prisoner of war camp and enduring Gestapo torture in order to provide critical intelligence to the Allied war effort and alert Allied governments about the Holocaust;
Whereas Jan Karski provided eyewitness testimony during the war about the horrors in occupied Poland to British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden and United States President Franklin Roosevelt;
Whereas Jan Karski enrolled in Georgetown University after World War II and earned a doctor of philosophy in 1952;
Whereas Jan Karski became a United States citizen and taught at Georgetown University for 40 years, dedicating the rest of his life to ensuring that the full extent of the Nazi atrocities are never forgotten; and
Whereas Jan Karski was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously on May 29, 2012, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) designates April 24, 2014, as ‘Jan Karski Day’;
(2) recognizes the life and legacy of Dr. Jan Karski and expresses its gratitude for his efforts in informing the free world of the atrocities committed by Nazi and totalitarian forces in Poland during World War II;
(3) applauds the awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski for his efforts during World War II and in reaffirming the importance of the United States-Polish bilateral relationship; and
(4) requests that the Secretary transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the family of Jan Karski and to the Ambassador of Poland to the United States.
U.S. Congress - Text of S.Res.626 as Introduced in Senate A resolution designating April 24, 2014, as "Jan Karski Day".
