"I remember every object from this office. The desk that I held in my house for eleven years. This is why I am so happy, that such wondergful people are running this institute" - said Mirecka-Ploss during the openning ceremony of the Office of Jan Karski.
She remember the Professor as "a great gentleman", "a humanitarian", "tolerant", "honest" and "elegant".
The Interactive Office of Professor Jan Karski is a modern educational facility, which combines modern technologies with a traditional historical exhibition, presenting the life story of one of the most remarkable characters of the XX Century: Jan Karski - "The man who tried to stop the Holocaust" and after the war a respected professor of the Georgetown University in Washington.
The Office and the exhibits have been shaped in the form of a professor's office, to give the viewers the atmosphere of the actual office that Karski used to have in Washington.
In the office you can find a unique collection of over 70 personal items of Professor Karski - starting from simple objects he used during the day, like his tea cup, his chessboard, coming to his rosary, a photo album of his tragically deceased wife, the photo of his favourite cat. The office presents also many of the awards and diplomas Karski received for his heroic mission in World War II. This includes the diploma awarding Karski the Silver Virtuti Militari Cross, received from General Sikorski - the leader of Poland during the war, the diploma of the "Righteous Amongst the Nations" awarded by the Yad Vashem Institute. The main exposition is completed by an advanced touchscreen presenting detailed information about the exhibits and additional multimedia materials including interviews with Jan Karski from press, radio and television, scanned publications of Jan Karski and articles about him, photographs and many more. The touchscreen is based on a system that will also allow access to the materials via the website of the Interactive Office, which will allow to become familiar with the exposition through the Internet.
During the openning ceremony the visitors were guided through the exposition by a very special person - it was Kaya Mirecka-Ploss, who remembered the story of almost every displayed item. The founding of the Jan Karski International Institute for Dialogue and Tolerance in Ruda Śląska, would not have been possible without her efforts. At first Kaya Mirecka-Ploss tried to initiate the institute in Warsaw or Lodz (the birthplace of Karski), but the idea didn't receive enough support. Meanwhile in Upper Silesia, where Ms Kaya comes from, the idea of the Institute immediately was picked up by local social acitvists and politicians, including Andrzej Stania - the President of Ruda Śląska, who promised to organize the proper space for the exposition in one of the buildings in the city. The Institute was founded in 2008 and now after three years of preparations the personal items of Jan Karski could finally be showed to the public.
- A dream has come true for me today - said Ms Kaya Mirecka-Ploss after openning the exposition.
CLICK TO VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THE OPENING CEREMONY.
Currently the exposition is available from 11:00 until 16:00 from Monday to Friday. Entrance is free. .
The project was financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and was co-financed by the Silesian Voivodship
Patron of the project: GPW Dystrybucja Sp. z o. o.