Jan Nowak-Jeziorański (; 2 October 1914 – 20 January 2005) was a Polish journalist, writer, politician, social worker and patriot. He served during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as one of the most notable resistance fighters of the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

. He is best remembered for his work as an emissary shuttling between the commanders of the Home Army and the

Polish Government in Exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovere ...

in London and other Allied governments which gained him the nickname "Courier from Warsaw", and for his participation in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

. After the war he worked as the head of the Polish section of

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

, and later as a security advisor to the US presidents

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

. In 1996, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

awarded him with America's highest civilian award the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

. He was born Zdzisław Antoni Jeziorański, (Jeziora Coat of Arms) in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, but used a number of noms de guerre during the war, the best known of which was Jan Nowak which he later added to his original surname.

Biography

Zdzisław Jeziorański was born on 2 October 1914 in Berlin. He attended Gimnazjum i Liceum im. Stefana Batorego in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. After finishing his studies in economics in 1936, he worked as a teaching assistant at

Poznań University Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. Mobilized in 1939, he fought in the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

as an artillery

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

. He was taken

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

by the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

, but managed to escape and returned to Warsaw. Most of his colleagues were taken prisoners of war by the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

and later killed in the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

. He quickly joined the Polish resistance. After 1940 he became the main organiser of the Akcja N, a secret organisation preparing German-language newspapers and other propaganda material pretending to be official German publications, to wage psychological warfare against German troops. He also served as an envoy between the commanders of the

and the

and other allied governments. During his first trips to Sweden and Great Britain he informed the Western governments of the fate of Poland under German and Soviet occupation. He was also the first to report the

Warsaw Ghetto uprising The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the gas chambers of the ...

. During one of such missions, in July 1944, he returned to

only a few days before the

Warsaw uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

broke out. During the Uprising Nowak-Jeziorański took an active part in the fight against the Germans and also organised the Polish radio that maintained contact with Allied countries through daily broadcasts in Polish and English. Shortly before the capitulation of the Polish capital, he was ordered by Home Army's commander-in-chief Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski to leave the city and find his way to London. He managed to evade being captured and reached Great Britain, bringing with him large quantities of documents and photos. For his bravery and his travels through the German-occupied Europe he was awarded with the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

, the highest Polish military medal. Jan Nowak-Jezioranski RFE

After the war Nowak-Jeziorański stayed in the West, initially in London and then in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Between 1948 and 1976 he was one of the most notable personalities of the BBC Polish Section. In 1952 he also became head of the Polish section of the Munich-based

. Through his daily radio broadcasts he remained one of the most popular radio personalities, both in communist-held Poland and among the Polish diaspora in the West. After giving up his posts in 1976 he became one of the most prominent members of the Polish American Congress. He was also working as an advisor to the American

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

and the presidents of the USA

and

. Through his contacts with many notable politicians in the USA, he was one of the proponents of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

's membership in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

(achieved in 1999). In the 1990s he started his cooperation with the

Polish Radio The Polish Radio (PR; Polish: ''Polskie Radio'', PR) is a national public-service radio broadcasting organization of Poland, founded in 1925. It is owned by the State Treasury of Poland. On 27 December 2023, the Minister of Culture and Nationa ...

and wrote a series of broadcasts titled ''Polska z oddali'' (''Poland from a Distance''). Since 1990 he was on Polish television as writer/presenter of monthly programs. In July 2002 he returned to Warsaw for the final time. He was an active supporter of Poland's entry into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Most of his books, published abroad as well as those published in Poland after 1989, were best-sellers and gained him even more popularity. For his writings he was awarded some of the most prestigious Polish literary awards, including the '' Kisiel Award'' (1999), '' Ksawery Pruszyński Memorial Prize'' of the Polish Pen Club (2001) and the ''Superwiktor'' award for television personalities. In 2003 he was also awarded the ''Człowiek Pojednania'' prize by the Polish Council of Christians and Jews for his part in the Polish-Jewish dialogue. Finally, he was made the

doctor honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

of many Polish universities, including the

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well as 100 specializat ...

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

and his alma mater, the

Adam Mickiewicz University Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam si ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. He died in

on 20 January 2005. He donated all his archives to the

Ossolineum Ossoliński National Institute (, ZNiO), or the Ossolineum is a Polish cultural Foundation (non-profit), foundation, publishing house, archival institute and a research centre of national significance founded in 1817 in Lwów (now Lviv). Located ...

Institute.

Censorship in Russia

A selection of Nowak's texts has been confiscated in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia by the FSB.

Awards

* Knight's Cross of the

(1944, highest Polish military award) * Cross of Valour (''Krzyż Walecznych'') * Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

* Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic (1993) * Order of the White Eagle (highest Polish award, 1994) *

(highest civilian award in the United States, 1996) * Grand Cross of the

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...

(the highest Lithuanian civilian award, 1998) * King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom (United Kingdom) * Kisiel Prize (1999) * Lumen Mundi (2001) * Ksawery Pruszyński Award (2001) * ''Man of Reconciliation'' (2002), awarded by the Polish Council of Christians and Jews for his contribution to Christian-Jewish dialogue in Poland * Wiktor Award and Superwiktor (2003) Awards of the Academy of Television * Gold Statue of the Business Centre Club for his contribution to the development of Polish democracy awarded by Business Centre Club (2003) * Honorary citizen of

, Gdansk and Kraków * Prize. Xavier Pruszynski, granted by the Polish PEN Club * Golden Microphone * Diamond Microphone

Bibliography

Among other books, he wrote: * ''Polska droga ku wolnosci, 1952–1973'', London, 1974. * Courier from Warsaw (''Kurier z Warszawy'', published in London 1978, Polish underground edition 1981, official edition in 1989, published in English in 1982 by Wayne State University Press) * ''Ideological competition in United States' strategy'', Polish American Congress, 1980. * ''Polska została sobą'', 1980. * ''Wojna w eterze'' (''War on the Radio'', memoirs 1948–1956), 1986. * ''Kryptonim "Odra"'' (''Code-name Odra''), Warsaw, 1986. * ''Polska z oddali. Wspomnienia 1956–1976'' (''Poland from the distance''), 1988 * ''Poland and Germany (Occasional paper / East European Studies)'', Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1991. * ''Z dziejów Armii Krajowej w inspektoracie Płocko-Sierpeckim'',

Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...

, 1992. * ''W poszukiwaniu nadziei'' (''In Search for Hope''), 1993 * ''Rozmowy o Polsce'', Warsaw, 1995. * ''Polska wczoraj, dzis i jutro'' (''Poland today, tomorrow and the day after''), Warsaw, 1999. * ''Listy 1952–1998'' (''Letters 1952–1998''),

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, 2001. * ''Poland's Road to NATO'', Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Ossolineum, Wrocław 2006,

In popular culture

A dramatic feature film about the wartime experiences of Nowak-Jeziorański and the

, entitled ' (''The Messenger''; U.S. title: ''The Resistance Fighter''), was released in Poland in 2019 and in the United States in 2020. Directed by Polish filmmaker Wladyslaw Pasikowski, it stars as Nowak-Jeziorański.

References

External links

BBC Polish World War II underground hero dies
accessed 21 January 2005
Reuters Polish World War II 'Courier from Warsaw' Dies, Aged 91
accessed 21 January 2005
Radio Free Europa Legendary RFE Polish Service Director Jan Nowak Dead At 91
accessed 21 January 2005 * Wikinews Jan Nowak-Jezioranski Dies {{DEFAULTSORT:Nowak-Jezioranski, Jan Polish resistance members of World War II Warsaw Uprising insurgents Polish military personnel of World War II Polish radio journalists Polish television journalists Knights of the Virtuti Militari Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Commanders with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Grand Crosses of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people 20th-century Polish nobility Writers from Warsaw 1914 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Polish journalists Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)