 The statue in 2025. | |
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| Location | 37th Street,Washington, D.C., United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°54′32″N77°04′19″W / 38.908793°N 77.071843°W /38.908793; -77.071843 |
| Designer | Karol Badyna |
| Type | Statue, bench monument |
| Material | Bronze |
| Opening date | September 17, 2002 |
| Dedicated to | Jan Karski |
Thestatue of Jan Karski, also known as theJan Karski Bench (Polish:Ławeczka Jana Karskiego), is abronze statue at 37th Street inWashington, D.C., United States, at the campus of theGeorgetown University. It is dedicated toJan Karski (1914–2000), a 20th-century soldier, diplomat, andpolitical scientist, who, as a member of thePolish resistance, reported to theWestern Allies about the state ofoccupied Poland, Germany's destruction of theWarsaw Ghetto and its operation ofextermination camps on Polish soil. He is depicted sitting on a bench, playingchess. It was designed byKarol Badyna, and unveiled on September 17, 2002.
The monument was dedicated toJan Karski (1914–2000), a 20th-century soldier, diplomat, andpolitical scientist, who, as a member of thePolish resistance, reported to theWestern Allies about state ofoccupied Poland, Germany's destruction of theWarsaw Ghetto and its operation ofextermination camps on Polish soil. The sculpture was designed byKarol Badyna, and unveiled on September 17, 2002, at the campus ofGeorgetown University, where Karski thought at from 1952 to 1992.[1][2] It was financed by theMinistry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, andPolish-American community.[2]
Its author, Karol Badyna, would be later commissioned to make several more memorials dedicated to Karski. This included identical copies inKielce (2005),New York City (2007), andTel Aviv (2009), as well as original designs inŁódź (2009),Warsaw (2013),Kraków (2016), andEstoril (2016). The statues were later criticized by Karski's family, stating that he was against being commemorated with monuments, as well as by them having form of benches.[3][4][5]
Thebronze statue depictsJan Karski, seated on one side of a bench, with his legs crossed and his left hand resting on a cane, and a chessboard with pieces set beside him. There is room on the opposite side of the bench for visitors to sit as if to participate in a chess match.[1]