OBITUARYDr. Jan P. Koniarek - Polish Aviation Author Passes Away
by Mike Dobrzelecki
Hyperscalers, who routinely add Squadron Publications' works to their library would be familiar their monograph, "Polish Air Force 1939-1945". Most modelers and aviation buffs, if they have one work on the PAF, it's a good bet it's the Squadron book. I helped Jan with the research and served as a fact-checker. I still have the yellow bound copy of the book with my notations. I am listed as one of the contributors to this tome.
On Saturday, I opened an envelope from a New York county fiduciary in charge of estates and got the shock of my life - Jan had passed away more than a month ago on August 29. The county government was seeking my help in locating his relatives - he had no will. I started that process over the weekend and I am continuing it today.
I first met Janek (as he was known to his friends) back in 1989 aboard the Intrepid Museum at the "Poland Invaded" Exhibit, which I helped supervise. He was admiring the artifacts and models in the exhibit and he struck up a conversation with me. We soon became good friends and he enlisted my services in a similar capacity creating exhibits for the Polish Museum of Military Heritage In New York City. Janek served as the Curator for the Polish Museum in New York City.
He also helped cement my direct relationship with the Polish Air Force Veterans Association, which continues to this day. We both worked on an exhibit for the PAFVA international reunion held in Clark NJ in 1994.
For years Jan was a professor at Columbia University and had recently left his academic career to pursue work for a optics company in Connecticut. For the past year or more he was pursuing a Law Degree and was studying for the Bar Exam. He had complained about the stress involved with his pursuit and I questioned him about why he would put himself through such an ordeal at his age (he was close to 60). Jan was worried about preparing a nest egg for retirement. I'm sure that this contributed to his early death.
Janek's first love, though, was and always would be Polish aviation history. Like me, Janek personally knew most of the famous Polish aces, pilots and crewmen, such as Stanislaw Skalski and Witold Urbanowicz. Several years ago he helped produce the only English-language documentary on the Polish Air Force, which included interviews and rare film footage of the Polish Air Force in action both in the 1930's and during their years in exile serving with the RAF in England. Unfortunately, the film documentary is no longer available.
Janek's personal archive was legendary. He was very generous in sharing it with other Polish aviation historians and his name was often listed as the owner of a photograph, if not several, in any book or magazine article on Polish Air Force history. I fear for his archives and hope to be involved in making sure this treasure trove finds a good home. The Polish Air Force historian community has one of their own listed as missing in action. We did not even get to say goodbye to him. His work shall live on, though. Jan was my friend and I will miss him terribly.
Jan P. Koniarek, Ph.D.
He was born in Poland, where he developed an early interest in aviation and history. After immigrating to the United States as a teenager in 1963, he continued his interests but settled on a scientific career in biomedical research as a profession . He presently works at Columbia University in New York City where he specializes in vision research. Outside of his profession he conducts interviews with veterans and writes about military history, especially about the role that the Polish Air Force played during the Second World War.In addition he is also the curator of the Museum of Polish Military Heritage in New York, an institution affiliated with the Polish Army Veterans Association Foundation, Inc. He is the author of a number of scientific papers, articles, monographs, and the book "Polish Air Force 1939-1945". He also co-produced the video "White Eagle in Borrowed Skies" that presents the history of the Polish Air Force through documentary film and interviews with veteran pilots of the Polish Air Force.
Jan Koniarek. Polish Air Force 1939-1945. Squadron Signal Publications, Carrolton, TX, 1994.This heavily illustrated book traces the history of the Polish Air Force during the Second World War. The book is currently out of print.
Authors: Warren A. Eberspacher and Jan P. Koniarek