Click here to listen to audio of Jan Karski

sharing his experiences.

A Message Still Fresh

Comments about Jan Karski and
Karski: How One Man Tried to Stop the Holocaust...

The Times (London) --

"Karski's is a fantastic story-- and the authors tell it well. This is a riveting as well as a harrowing read."

Michael Berenbaum, director, U.S. Holocaust Research Institute, in Polin --

"A gripping biography.... worthy of the life it depicts. The authors write without jargon and with a breeziness that permits quick reading, but they have done their homework. Historians cannot answer 'what if,' but the question burns through each page of this book."

The Times Literary Supplement (London) --

"Karski is the remarkable story of a modest man who has become a 'professional hero,' which the authors tell with sympathy and verve.... Economically written and well-researched."

Publishers Weekly --

"His engrossing biography is valuable, for it tempers the widespread contention that Gentile Poland was indifferent to the plight of the Jews."

"An adventure... retold in a first-rate scholarly manner. It is a book all teachers of the period should read.... If a gentile hero is necessary, then the unqualified honor should go to Jan Karski and not to the one-dimensional, hollow persona that was Oskar Schindler.... Jan Karski ranks with the Wallenbergs and Bernadottes, those who actively intervened in the Holocaust and actually saved lives at enormous risk to their own."

Kirkus Reviews --

"A real page-turner, with drama woven into every scene."

The Good Book Guide (England) --

"A record of extreme courage, desperate survival and moral heroism that is also a burning and all-too-relevant indictment of the world's ability to avert its eyes.... Read it."

The American Spectator --

"Well-researched and unfailingly interesting."

Jewish Chronicle (London) --

"A gripping documentary, which expresses the complexity of Polish politics under the Nazi regime and the dilemma of one of Poland's great heroes."

Jewish Telegraph (England) --

"A must for anyone interested in the history of the Holocaust and World War II."

Lancashire Evening Post --

"This is a book you just can't put down."

Church of England Newspaper --

"You might have expected a worthy but dull book. It is not. It reads like a spy thriller."

The Canberra Times --

"Compelling... In Karski, there is the fervent affirmation that good can triumph over evil, that individuals can influence the course of events."

Martin Gilbert, official biographer of Winston Churchill--

"Absolutely absorbing."

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Adviser --

"A significant account of personal heroism-- not only dramatic as a story but also a compelling moral message regarding the human condition.... A superb read."

Miles Lerman, chairman, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council --

"Karski is a true adventure, a story of incredible valor, a story of personal courage and uncommon determination. The inspiring story of Jan Karski is moving and thought-provoking-- a must read."

Lech Walesa, Former President of Poland --

"As a courier, at the risk of his life, Karski carried information of great political and military importance. He survived arrest and imprisonment. He did not break down in spite of savage torture. He escaped from his torturers and fulfilled his missions as before. And in November 1942, he delivered to the West documentation of Hitler's crime-- the total extermination of the Jews."

James Cardinal Hickey, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. --

"The mission which Dr. Karski endeavored to carry out with extraordinary faith and courage during World War II still has a message for us today. It calls upon us to remember the lessons of the Holocaust; in addition it challenges us to reach out in a spirit of justice and charity in order to eliminate from our community, our nation and our world every vestige of hatred and bigotry."

Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel --

"A great man is one who stands head and shoulders above his people, a man who, when surrounded by overpowering evil and blind hatred, does all in his power to stem the tide. Karski ranks high in the all-too-brief list of such great and unique personalities who stood out in the darkest age of Jewish history."

Ken Adelman, syndicated columnist --

"Here is the stirring tale of a stirring life. Through this well-written book, I came to know the real Jan Karski for the first time. I will never forget his courage, nor will any reader."

Abraham H. Foxman, national director, Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith --

"Jan Karski emerges from these pages as truly one of 'the righteous among the nations.' It is the shame of history that few would believe his eyewitness accounts of the Nazi atrocities against Polish Jews and that none of the leaders of the free world would heed his call for help. This story is a must read."

Martin Peretz, publisher, The New Republic --

"Karski is one of 'the righteous among the nations,' and when Wattsa mentioned that he was in our midst, the crowd's sudden hush indicated that the people knew we were in the presence of one of those obsessives whose obsessions make him both brave and good."

Elie Wiesel, writer, winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize --

"Jan Karski: a brave man? Better: a just man."

Return to Karski Home Page || Go to the Top of the Page