Jan Karski and Aleksander Kawałkowski

[Karski]

In 1987, Karski said to M. Kozlowski that he met Aleksander Kawałkowski in Paris during his trip Warsaw-London, before the middle of November 1942.

Wood and Jankowski, (Karski ..., 2014, p. 123) also say that Karski met Aleksander Kawałkowski in Paris in October 1942. (Since there are several opinions about the timeline of Karski's journey, it could also be September or perhaps November, but still 1942).

Michael Fleming, Auschwitz, the Allies ..., 2014, p. 150, says : "On 3 October [1942], Kawałkowski, based in Paris, advised Polish colleagues in London that Karski had reported to him." In note 101, p. 348, Fleming gives the reference PISM A9.VI.9.19, Message 99F. (PISM = Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London.) I don't know if it results from this document that Kawałkowski was in Paris on 3 October 1942 or if M. Fleming deduces it from Karski's declarations.

Now, according to Janine Ponty , L'apport de témoignages à l'histoire de la Résistance polonaise en France : F2 et POWN, Revue des études slaves, 2004, Vol. 75, N. 75-2, pp. 297-305, spec. p. 302,

available on Persée : http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/pr ... _75_2_6893

it was in 1943 that Kawałkowski settled in Paris (coming from Lyon), after the Germans occupied the free zone. (See p. 302.)

Do you know if there are sources other than Karski testifying that Kawałkowski was based in Paris in October 1942 ? In particular, does the piece referred to by M. Fleming imply this ?

[Karski]

Wood and Jankowski (2014, p. 166) say : "In order to make his reports seem more fresh, the London authorities spread word that Karski had come from Poland in February or March 1943 rather than November 1942, even giving Ciechanowski this date in one of Jan's letters of introduction. The accounts of individuals who met Karski show that he consistently repeated false arrival dates during his American visits."

If Karski really came from Poland in February or March 1943 rather than November 1942, that could explain how he could meet Kawałkowski in Paris ?

[Karski]

Clearly, there is a chronological problem. Michael Fleming, Auschwitz, the Allies and Censorship of the Holocaust, Cambridge University Press, says : "On 3 October [1942] Kawałkowski, based in Paris, advised Polish colleagues in London that Karski had reported to him. [Note 101, p. 348 : PISM A9.VI.9.19, Message 99F.] The following day Kawałkowski messaged Mikołajczyk advising that he had sent Karski's report. [Note 101, p. 348 : PISM A9.VI.9.19, Message 103F.] In the same message Karski reported that he had arrived in Lyon on 30 September and requested that this information be relayed to Warsaw. Karski (2012: 393) [= J. Karski, Story of a Secret State, London, 2012, Penguin] claimed that he travelled from Paris to Lyon. Wood and Jankowski (1994: 139) suggest that Karski was in Paris for two weeks. If this is true, then Karski arrived at the Gare du Nord around 16 September 1942. Karski then apparently spent around two weeks in Lyon, according to Wood and Jankowski's account (1994: 139)."
For me, this asks the following questions :
1° How does M. Fleming know that Kawałkowski was based in Paris in 1942 (something that seems to be contradicted by other sources, see the opening post) ? Is there a sending place indicated on Kawałkowski's telegrams ?
2° How is "Karski" named in Kawałkowski's telegrams ? I presume it is "Witold", but it would be good to be sure.
3° M. Fleming doesn't seem to firmly believe what Karski, Wood and Jankowski are saying. What if the "Karski" of 1943 and after the war was not the same man as the 1942 "Witold" (or let us say the 1942 courier) ?

[Karski]

Well, there is something interesting here :
http://ohistorie.eu/2019/09/18/jan-kars ... zywistosc/
(Adam Puławski, Trzecia (ostatnia) misja kurierska Jana Karskiego. Mity i rzeczywistość)
Google translation :
"So certainly the first city to which Jan Karski arrived was not Paris, as he described in the Secret State in 1944, but Lyon. It is possible that in this book Paris, where the emissary was to spend several days, appeared for security reasons. Generally, as other documents cited by me in the book from 2018 show, Karski was to be headed from Poland to France not bought. It seems that the moment of Jan Karski's arrival in Lyon also meant the time of reaching Aleksander Kawałkowski from "Monika". The latter lived then in Lyon, where the POWN headquarters was located. In the vicinity of the city, telegrams from the Roland radio station were broadcast. According to Kawałkowski's post-war memories, it was from the unoccupied zone that he managed the work of his entire organization, including the "northern group" (operating in occupied France). Kawałkowski did not move to Paris until May 1943 (Puławski 2018, pp. 352–353)."
I would be very happy if the question I asked here in 2016 had helped Adam Puławski to see more clearly than Wood and Jankowski and Fleming.
Now, the explanation "It is possible that in this book Paris, where the emissary was to spend several days, appeared for security reasons" doesn't explain why Karski, still in 1987, said to M. Kozlowski that he met Aleksander Kawałkowski in Paris.

[steve248]

Karski arrived London on 25 Nov 1942.
Date provided in his first interview with the British authorities following arrival in London.

[Karski]

Karski arrived London on 25 Nov 1942.
Date provided in his first interview with the British authorities following arrival in London.

Thanks. It confirms the opinion of Adam Puławski, that Karski did not meet Aleksander Kawałkowski. According to Adam Puławski, who examined the telegrams concerning Karski's trip, Karski (contrary to his declarations) was not in Paris during his 1942 trip. Why are there so many untruths in Karski's statements? The explanation for security reasons does not seem convincing to me. I can not help thinking that the Karski from March 1943 (and after war) was ignorant of many things concerning the Karski of 1942. By parenthesis, I would find it interesting to know if the British report of December 1942 is accompanied by a photo.

[steve248]

What Karski said in 1942 and what he said in 1943 and published in 1944 all seem to be different.
I have always wondered whether the Polish Govt-in-Exile wanted Karski to include a good deal of information that they had received since 1940 including details of anti-Jewish measures. My grounds for this remark is the continuing identification of where he saw Jews on a ramp. First it was Belzec then Izbica but neither meet his identification.
The most recent publication to question Karski's story is from Steffen Hänschen, "Das Transitghetto Izbica im System des Holocaust", publ Mewtropol, Berlin, 2018.

[Karski]

The most recent publication to question Karski's story is from Steffen Hänschen, "Das Transitghetto Izbica im System des Holocaust", publ Mewtropol, Berlin, 2018.

Interesting. Does Steffen Hänschen express doubts about Karski's visit to Izbica ?

[steve248]

Yes, he expresses doubt that Karski visited Izbica.

[Karski]

Yes, he expresses doubt that Karski visited Izbica.

Thanks for the answer.