Legendary World War II courier Jan Karski dies in U.S. at the age of 86

Jan Karski, the legendary World War II courier of the underground Home Army, died yesterday at the age of 86. He acted as a messenger during the war, meeting with leaders of Western powers, including U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, telling them about the situation in occupied Poland and the atrocities of the Holocaust as early as in 1942. Last year his book about the Polish underground state, The Secret State, was published in Poland for the first time, 44 years after its premiere in the U.S. He had been honored by many countries, receiving, amongst others, the highest Polish distinction - the Order of the White Eagle and honorary citizenship to Israel. Karski died in the U.S. where he has lived since the end of World War II. (Rzeczpospolita, page A1) T.J.