Embassy Events 2005

Ambassador Ashe released the following statement:
It is with great sadness that I mark the passing of a truly great Polish patriot, as well as a great American citizen, Jan Nowak-Jezioranski.

Any attempt to chronicle his life and accomplishments would be inadequate; his courage during the Second World War and his staunch resistance to Soviet domination of his beloved Poland after the war would be the stuff of legend, were it not altogether true.

As the world prepares to commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz sixty years ago, it is especially noteworthy to remember how he tried to inform an incredulous world about the fate of Jews during the Holocaust.

Last August, when Secretary of State Colin Powell helped commemorate the Warsaw Uprising, he noted the role that Jan Nowak-Jezioranski played during that brief candle of resistance to Nazi horror.

After the war, he directed Radio Free Europe's Polish Service, serving as the voice of democracy for a generation of Poles.

For these and other services, President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, America’s highest award for distinguished civilian service in peacetime.

Jan Nowak-Jezioranski also served the Polish community in America as President of the Polish-American Congress from 1979-1996, when he was able to return to a fully free homeland.

While Poland and the United States mourn the loss of a great patriot, we can celebrate that Jan Nowak-Jezioranski’s life was unique in that he was able to see the fruits of his own heroic labors come to pass with Poland taking again its rightful place as a free and independent European nation.

I have ordered the United States flag to fly at half-staff at US Embassy property from January 21-24 in his honor.

Cześć Jego pamięci!