Poland marks remembrance day for anti-communist partisans
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
01.03.2016 10:36
Prime Minister of Poland Beata Szydło led tributes on Tuesday to those who took up arms against the imposition of communist rule, marking the country's national remembrance day of the so-called 'Cursed Soldiers'.
Prime Minister Beata Szydło with veteran 'Cursed Soldiers' Zygmunt Boczkowski (C) and Henryk Atemborski (R). Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
“It is our duty to revive the remembrance [of these partisans], passing on to future generations the truth about these steadfast soldiers, who valued their homeland above all else,” the prime minister said on Tuesday, following a breakfast with several veterans.
The anti-communist guerrillas were largely stamped out by 1948 and rehabilitation of the partisans only began in recent years: the remembrance day was established in 2011.
“The communists did the utmost to ensure that we Poles would not remember, and not feel responsibility for our common destiny,” Szydło said.
The main tributes to the so-called 'Cursed Soldiers' will be held on Tuesday evening, beginning at 6 pm at Warsaw's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
At 8 pm, there will be a procession in Warsaw that will pass by Mokotów Prison, where many leading figures in the anti-communist underground were tortured and executed.
Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro signed documents yesterday concerning the foundation of a museum in tribute to the partisans.
Prominent formations included Freedom and Independence (WiN) and the National Military Union (NZW). Although the partisans have been largely rehabilitated in recent years, controversies remain about several individual leaders.
One such example is Romuald Rajs (codename 'Bury'), who according to a probe by the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), was responsible for the pacification of several ethnically Belarusian villages on Polish territory in 1946. Likewise, allegations endure that Józef Kuraś (codename 'Fire') was responsible for killing Jewish civilians. (nh/pk)