Born Zdzisław Antoni Jeziorański, known under underground pseudonyms Jan Nowak, Kwiatkowski, Janek, Jan Zych. Also known as the “Courier from Warsaw.”  He was born on the night 2nd and 3rd October 1914 in Berlin.

 

Initially a student at the Stefan Batory Gymnasium in Warsaw, the young Jeziorański was soon transferred to the Adam Mickiewicz Gymnasium. The latter school’s atmosphere made it possible for him to develop a deep interest in history as well as enter active participation in the Harcerstwo Movement (Scouting). Upon passing his final exams he went to Poznań to study economy at the university, from which he graduated in 1936.

 

 In June 1937, he completed the course at the Cadet School of Artillery Reserve Officers in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, and then was assigned to the Ready Reserve of the J. Sowiński 2nd Mounted Artillery Division. After that, he returned to the University of Poznań to become a PhD candidate. At the Department of Economics, he worked as assistant to Professor Edward Taylor with whom he was later to share a friendship of many years.

 

Nowak wanted to pursue a career in economics but was mobilized as a non-commissioned officer during the invasion of Poland. He was captured by the Germans but escaped and joined the Polish Underground.

 

Having returned to Warsaw in 1940, he became involved in underground activities: he participated in the “Akcja N” event organized by Armia Krajowa (The Home Army) and intended to misinform the German army and administration. As the Courier to the Home Army Commander in Chief in London, he had a crucial role in communication which earned him the nickname of „The Warsaw Courier”. As a messenger, he went on five journeys from Warsaw to London and back, delivering top secret documents both ways. In 1944 he came to Poland to take part in the Warsaw Uprising. He took charge of preparing announcements for the guerilla radio Błyskawica („Lightning”).

 

During the Uprising he married Jadwiga Wolska, the courier known as „Greta”, whom he repeatedly referred to as the third love of his life, i.e., after God and the Country.

 

He fought during the Warsaw Rising but was ordered by General Bor-Komorowski to escape the city before the Polish surrender. He escaped the battlefield and eventually reached London with many precious documents from the Polish Underground.

 

After the war, Jeziorański emigrated to live in London, Munich and then Washington. In the years 1948-51 he worked at the Polish Section of the BBC Radio. Starting from 1951 until 1976, he continuously supervised The Polish Section of the Radio Free Europe based in Munich, a radio station financed by the US government. It was via radio broadcast that he informed his compatriots of the situation on the other side of the iron curtain, thus disrupting the monopoly practices of the communist-controlled information sources.

Once retired, he cooperated with the Polish American Congress and worked as a consultant for the United States National Security Council as well as counselor for Eastern Europe to the State Department. He had an important role in Poland’s access to the NATO. He was also a national security advisor to both Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, and wrote many books, including an account of his wartime experiences titled “Courier from Warsaw.”

In 2002, Jeziorański settled in Warsaw, where he died in 2005. He was buried at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.

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Source:  Online on Facebook and excerpts from his book.

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Copyright: Jerzioranski family

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