Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka (; born 19 May 1949) is a Polish lawyer, journalist, and former politician who served as secretary of state in the

Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland The Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland (, KPRP) is an institution that assists the President of Poland with fulfilling his tasks as head of state. The Chancellery is headed by its chief, currently being Małgorzata Paprocka. C ...

under

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010 in an air crash. The aircraft carrying ...

between 2008 and 2010. In 2010 Junczyk-Ziomecka was appointed Consul General of Poland, New York City, a position she held until 2014. On 19 January 2015, after completing the consular mission, she became the president of the

Jan Karski Jan Karski (born Jan Kozielewski, 24 June 1914 – 13 July 2000) was a Polish soldier, Polish resistance movement in World War II, resistance-fighter, and diplomat during World War II. He is known for having acted as a courier in 1940–1943 to ...

Educational Foundation.

Biography

Junczyk was born in

Raszyn Raszyn () is a village in Pruszków County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of an administrative district called Gmina Raszyn. It lies approximately east of Pruszków and south-west of Warsaw. Raszyn is a part of War ...

, Poland. After studying law and postgraduate journalism studies at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, 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 ...

, she worked as a journalist. During

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

, she was banned from practicing as a journalist, and then left for the United States. In the 1980s, she was the editor-in-chief of Polish-American newspaper ''Dziennik Polski'' in Detroit. Involved in cooperation between the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and Ukrainian

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

in the United States. She chaired the Polish Election Commission in Michigan during the 1990 presidential election. She returned to Poland in 1993. She then represented the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in Poland, initiating and co-organizing, among others, international conferences on "

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

" and the

Polish Round Table Agreement The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, communist Poland, from 6 February to 5 April 1989. The government initiated talks with the banned trade union ''Solidarity'' and other opposition groups to defuse growing social unrest. Hist ...

. She was involved in the creation of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews "POLIN". From 2001, for five years, she was the director for development and deputy director of this emerging institution. On 19 January 2006 she became Undersecretary of State, and on 23 April 2008, Secretary of State in the

. She supervised the Office of Social Initiatives and the Office of Citizens' Letters and Opinions of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland. On 24 February 2010, it was canceled. Karski bench NY

On 1 March 2010, she took the position of Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York City. She was consul general until 2014. During her tenure as consul general, the Karski program was inaugurated in the United States, and the Polish-American group Jan Karski Centennial Campaign was established, thanks to which

was posthumously honored with the highest civilian decoration of the United States, 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 ...

. In 2012 the Consulate General also inaugurated the annual Jan Karski Spirit Award, awarded by the Jan Karski Educational Foundation. Junczyk-Ziomecka became the first laureate of this award, followed by prominent American politicians: Ambassador to the UN,

Samantha Power Samantha Jane Power (born September 21, 1970) is an Irish-American journalist, diplomat, and government official who served as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development from 2021 to 2025. She was the 28th Unite ...

(2013) and Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

(2014). Thanks to consular activities aimed at popularizing knowledge about Jan Karski, in March 2013

Georgetown University Press Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political s ...

published in the USA – 69 years after the first publication – Jan Karski's book ''

Story of a Secret State ''Story of a Secret State'' (later republished under longer, titles, ''Courier from Poland: The Story of a Secret State'' and ''Story of a Secret State: My Report to the World'') is a 1944 book by Polish resistance Home Army courier Jan Karski. F ...

.'' During Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka's tenure the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York was also a place of intensive training for Polish and American teachers, the aim of which was to promote knowledge about the person and heritage of Jan Karski. On 19 January 2015 she became the president of the

Jan Karski Educational Foundation Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

. Member of the Open Republic Association, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute and the Association of Polish Journalists. Author of several books, including about "

" and about

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. She actively works for

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

dialogue.

Personal life

Her ex-husband is Mariusz Ziomecki (a Polish journalist and TV presenter), and she has two children: daughter Zuzanna and son Stanisław. Junczyk-Ziomecka was a close personal friend of the late Polish writer

Ryszard Kapuściński Ryszard Kapuściński (; 4 March 1932 – 23 January 2007) was a Polish journalist, photographer, poet and author. He received many prestigious awards and was considered a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kapuściński's personal jo ...

and late Polish President

Honours

National honours

* Poland: Knight'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 ...

(2015) * Poland: Medal "Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (2006); (awarded by the Association of Jewish War Veterans and Victims of World War II)

Foreign honours

* Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junczyk-Ziomecka, Ewa 1949 births Living people University of Warsaw alumni Consuls-general for Poland in New York City 20th-century Polish journalists 21st-century Polish women politicians