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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Jan Nowak-Jezioranski
Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, former Director Radio Free Europe
National Director of the Polish-American Congress, Nowak has devoted his life to the cause of freedom and democracy. During World War II, he risked his life as a member of the Polish underground, making numerous trips from Nazi-occupied Warsaw to London in order to inform Allied leaders. For 25 years, he directed Radio Free Europe's Polish Service, serving as the voice of democracy for a generation of Poles.
Presidential Statement on Jan Nowak-Jezioranski
Recognizing the Death of Jan Nowak-Jezioranski
President Bush mourns the passing in Warsaw of Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, a great Polish freedom fighter and American patriot. Jan Nowak's life was devoted to freedom's cause. He was a leader in freedom's struggle in the 20th century from Poland's resistance to the Nazis in World War II through the return of democracy to Poland after 1989, in which he played important roles. Jan Nowak-Jezioranski pursued his values tenaciously, and contributed greatly to the building of a Europe whole, free, and at peace. A longtime leader in the Polish-American community, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 in recognition of his achievements on behalf of liberty.
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May 3, 1952
Polish Wartime Hero Dies at 91
By Monika Scislowska, Associated Press Writer
WARSAW, Poland - Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, a wartime courier for the Polish anti-Nazi resistance and the director of Radio Free Europe's Polish service during the Cold War, has died, Polish officials said Friday. He was 91.
Nowak-Jezioranski died Thursday in a Warsaw hospital. The cause of death was not immediately given.
A great Pole, a hero and a great authority has gone," Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Poland's first democratic prime minister after communism's end, said on state radio.
Nowak-Jezioranski fought in the brief 1939 campaign after Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. After Poland's defeat and occupation, he joined the resistance movement and fought in the 1944 Warsaw uprising against the Nazis.
He risked his life as a courier between the Polish government-in-exile in London and the Polish underground resistance in German-occupied Poland, completing five trips -- including risky parachute jumps.
The uprising began Aug. 1, 1944, and lasted 63 days, leaving about 200,000 insurgents and civilians dead. Nowak-Jezioranski sneaked back out of Nazi-occupied Poland after the uprising failed, carrying intelligence material and film showing the struggle.
In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair's office praised Nowak-Jezioranski's courage in a statement Friday.
"Throughout his life, Nowak-Jezioranski was one of Europe's most determined and heroic fighters for truth and freedom and a true Polish patriot," Downing Street said.
"In particular we remember the role he played in coming to London during World War II as a member of the Polish underground resistance and more recently the part he played in bringing history to light as a member of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee."
After the war, Nowak-Jezioranski worked in Munich, Germany, for Radio Free Europe, a U.S.-funded station that broadcast to countries behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.
In 1976, he moved to Washington, where he served as a consultant to the National Security Council. In 1996, President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, for his service during the war and at Radio Free Europe.
In the 1990s, Nowak-Jezioranski campaigned for Poland's reintegration into the rest of Europe, lobbying for Poland's membership in NATO and the European Union. Poland joined the alliance in 1999 and the European bloc last year.
"He served the nation in the most difficult moments of our history," former Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency. "I have a feeling of great loss."
There was no immediate word about funeral arrangements or survivors.
Jan Nowak-Jezioranski with fellow Medal of Freedom Recipient Zbigniew Brzezinski
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Medal History
