Jan Karski Told the World to Stand Up to Tyrants

Jan Karski was my Modern Foreign Governments Professor in the School of Foreign Serice at Georgetown University during early 1981.

Jan Karski's His NY Times obituary (bel0w), the documentary," "Shoah and another documentary, "Messenger from Poland" showed the world his courage and fearlessness.

In a world full of fecklessness, we need to heed Jan Karski's example.

Speak out. Speak your truth. Don't be afraid to stand up to bullies, from City Hall to Congress.

It's our boat -- don't be afraid to rock it.

As Washington Post Managing Editor Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (played by Jason Robards) says to reporters Woodward and Bernstein in the movie, All the President's Men:

Look, you're both probably a little
tired, right?
(They nod)
You should be, you've been under a
lot of pressure. So go home, have a
nice hot bath, rest up fifteen minutes
if you want before you get your asses
back in gear--
(louder now)
--because we're under a lot of
pressure, too, and you put us there--
not that I want it to worry you--
nothing's riding on you except the
First Amendment of the Constitution
plus the freedom of the press plus
the reputation of a hundred-year-old
paper plus the jobs of the two
thousand people who work there--
(still building)
--but none of that counts as much as
this: you f--- up again, I'm gonna
lose my temper.
(pause; softer)
I promise you, you don't want me to
lose my temper.
(shooing them off)
Move-move-move--what have you done
for me tomorrow...?