Embassy Events 2007

Lech Wałęsa Receives Karski Freedom Award

24 January 2007

Ambassador Victor Ashe and President Lech Wałęsa with the Karski Freedom Award. (more photos)

Lech Wałęsa is the first recipient of the Karski Freedom Award sponsored by U.S. Embassy Warsaw. The award, recognizing a Pole who has worked for the promotion of democracy and human rights, was presented to Mr. Wałęsa at a reception hosted in his honor by U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe on January 23. Mr. Wałęsa, the former President of Poland, was recognized for his pivotal role in the Solidarity movement that led to the downfall of the Communist system in Poland. “Mr. Wałęsa exemplifies the ideals this award celebrates,” Ambassador Ashe explained. “His courage and perseverance in securing democratic freedoms for Poles are an inspiration, and we celebrate his contribution to the promotion of human rights.”

The award is named for Jan Karski, a hero of the underground Polish Home Army during World War II who infiltrated the Warsaw Ghetto and a Nazi concentration camp and then carried the first eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust to the West. Karski later became a U.S. citizen and taught for over 40 years at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

The Karski Freedom Award is one of three annual awards the Embassy has initiated this year:

In the spring, the embassy will select and announce a Polish winner of the The Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Award for Public Service. The award recognizes the accomplishments of Polish men and women who have made a difference through their leadership and commitment to public service. This award celebrates the life of the Polish writer, journalist, and legendary resistance fighter; during World War II, Nowak-Jeziorański served as an envoy between the commanders of the Home Army and the Polish government in exile, and had an important role in the 1944 Warsaw uprising. After the War, Nowak-Jeziorański was the head of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe for a quarter of a century and an advisor to U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.

In June, the Embassy will announce the first winner of the Czesław Miłosz Award for Contributions to U.S-Polish Understanding. The award will be presented to an individual dedicated to promoting improved communication, closer cooperation, and greater understanding between the people of the United States and Poland. The award is named after Czesław Miłosz, the Polish author and co-founder of the literary group "Zagary." During World War II, Miłosz worked in Warsaw for the underground press. He subsequently settled in France where he continued to write, winning the Prix Littéraire Européen in 1953. In 1960, at the invitation of the University of California, Miłosz moved to Berkeley where he was Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature until late in his life. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980.