Jan Krawiec (15 June 1919 — 28 October 2020) was a Polish-American journalist, historian, and political activist. He was chief editor of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's leading

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

newspaper.

Biography

Krawiec was born in Bachorce,

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 ...

. He finished his officer training shortly before the

World War II 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 ...

and participated in the defense of Poland. On 17 September 1939, 16 days after the Germans invaded Poland, Krawiec joined the

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * Buenos Aires Underground, a rapid transit system * London Underground, a rapid transit system * ...

and ran a secret newspaper until he was arrested by the Germans in April 1943. He was transported to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

, where he did slave labor instead of being immediately murdered, since he was a Polish Catholic. He was later transferred to

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territori ...

. In April 1945, the Germans evacuated the prison camp and forced the inmates, including Krawiec, on a

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...

until they were freed by American troops. In 1949, he arrived in Chicago and worked for ten years as a mechanic for Canfield Beverage Company. He earned a degree from

Loyola University Loyola University is one of several Jesuit Universities named for St. Ignatius of Loyola. Loyola University may refer to: Democratic Republic of the Congo *Loyola University of Congo, Kinshasa, Congo Spain * Loyola University Andalusia, Sevilla ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He then became a writer for a Polish-language newspaper, ''Dziennik Chicagoski''. He later moved to competing newspaper '' Dziennik Związkowy''. He was appointed editor-in-chief and remained such until 1985 when he retired. He was part of President Nixon's press pool during his presidential visit to Poland. Krawiec never married. He contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in October 2020, and died two weeks later at the age of 101.

References

1919 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Polish journalists Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Polish Roman Catholics Journalists from Chicago Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois Polish emigrants to the United States Polish men centenarians American men centenarians 20th-century American journalists American male journalists People from Przemyśl County {{Poland-bio-stub