In 'Operation L,' Polish Special Forces rescued women judges, lawyers from Afghanistan amid chaotic U.S. exit

In an operation little known until recently, Polish Special Forces evacuated female judges and lawyers from Afghanistan in the wake of the chaotic U.S. exit in 2021.

I continue to discover stories of tribulation, heroism, and heartbreak emerging from last summer's debacle. The most haunting report remains one published at the time, though I caught up to it some months later, This American Life's nail-biting Prologue and Act One of "Getting Out."

In an action only recently come to light, Polish Special Forces within the NATO mission carried out "Operation L." As the Taliban took control of Kabul, female public officials, judges, and lawyers received threats of violence and murder. Prompted by the efforts of an Afghan judge and Polish lawyer, the Polish government deployed special forces.

Besides more than 1,000 other persons who escaped Afghanistan on flights organized by Polish authorities, soldiers evacuated to Poland a group of nearly 90 persons comprising women judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and their families.

In collaboration with the Kosciuszko Foundation and the American Bar Association (ABA), the Jagiellonian Law Society (JLS) held a panel presentation and discussion in May, now published on YouTube at KosciuszkoTV, on Operation L. Remarks included those of Judge Anisa Rasooli. In 2018, she was the first woman nominated to the Afghan Supreme Court, though her candidacy was narrowly defeated in the parliament.

Within the ABA, the International Law Section (ILS), Women's Interest Network, and International Human Rights Committee co-sponsored. I'm pleased to be affiliated with the JLS and ABA ILS.

Ukrainian west comprises ethnic groups scarred by Soviet hostility; historian will lecture on Lemkos

Carpathian Range
(map by Ikonact CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Jagiellonian Law Society and the Kosciuszko Foundation are sponsoring a lecture on February 24 on Ukraine, Poland, and the Lemkos ethnic group.

The Beijing Olympics opened Friday, and conventional wisdom suggests that the chess game playing out in Eastern Europe will not heat up until the Olympics ends on Sunday, February 20. Nervous speculation abounds on what the following week might bring. Meanwhile, 3,000 American troops are deploying to Poland, Romania, and Germany.

February 24 thus seems an opportune time to learn something more about the complicated history of the region that is the focus of the world's attention.  The Lemkos ethnic group, at home in the Carpathian mountain range, sits at a curious crossroads.  With communities spanning Poland, Ukraine, and Slovakia, the Lemkos are an important piece of the region's multicultural story.  Oppressed by the Soviet Union, they are something of a mirror image of the intercultural wedge that Vladimir Putin is now driving to fragment Ukraine in the east.

Carpatho-Rusyns, including Lemkos at left, celebrate a cultural day in 2007.
(Photo by Silar CC BY-SA 3.0)

Professor Jan Pisuliński, a historian at the University of Rzeszów, will deliver the lecture, "Lemkos and Ukrainians," the fourth in a series on "Ethnic Minorities in Polish Lands."  Pisuliński is author of the book Special Operation "Vistula" (Akcja Specjalna 'Wisła') (2017) (Amazon), the definitive account of the forced resettlement by the Soviet Union in 1947 of 140,000 to 200,000 persons, mostly ethnic minorities including Lemkos, from the Carpathians to western Poland.  With the resettlement, the Soviets dismantled post-war guerilla resistance in the region.  On the northern edge of the Carpathians and in the southeast of Poland, Rzeszów is about 100km by highway form Ukraine's western border.

Registration for the Zoom lecture is free.  New members are always invited to join the Jagiellonian Law Society and Kosciuszko Foundation.  (I'm a member of the former.)  The Kosciuszko Foundation sponsors student scholarships and exchanges, among many other programs.