Observances commemorating the fifth anniversary of the death of Jan Nowak-Jeziorański begin today.

The journalist, writer, politician, and a long-time head of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe died on 20 January 2005.

A mass will be held at St. John’s Cathedral in Warsaw and flowers will be laid at his grave during a special ceremony. Commemorations will also include a series of film screenings and other events at the Museum of Warsaw Rising.

Jan Nowak-Jeziorański was an emissary of the Home Army and the Polish Government in Exile in London. The legendary ‘Courier from Warsaw’ was the last envoy from the British capital that made his way to Warsaw before the Warsaw Rising in 1944.

Nowak-Jeziorański received the Order of the White Eagle, the highest distinction of its kind in Poland, in 1994. Two years later, he was conferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. His honours also include the military decorations Virtuti Militari, and the Cross of Valour. (ab)