Remembrance Day of the “Cursed Soldiers”. The president and the head of the Ministry of National Defense paid tribute to the Unbroken

March 1 is the National Day of Remembrance of the “Cursed Soldiers” in Poland. On this day, soldiers of the anti-communist and independence underground were paid tribute by, among others, President Andrzej Duda, and Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Ministry of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.

President Duda on Remembrance Day of the “Cursed Soldiers”: We remember!

President Andrzej Duda published his message for this day in the morning. “Today, on the National Remembrance Day of the Cursed Soldiers, we honor those who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, did not lay down their weapons but continued to resist the new Red occupation. In tribute to those who died for their loyalty to the Homeland, I join all those who cherish the memory of their heroism,” he wrote. “Today I think with compassion about the families of the victims of communist repression, who still do not know the fate of their loved ones arrested and missing. I would like to thank all those who for decades – also before 1989 – cultivated the legacy of “living by the law of the wolf”. Remembering them is our patriotic duty and the duty of the independent, sovereign Republic of Poland,” it added.

The profile of the Chancellery of the President on the X portal also published a video with a message for the National Remembrance Day of the “Cursed Soldiers”.

– Thank you to our wonderful heroes – the Unbreakable Soldiers. I would also like to thank all those who take care of this memory, nurture it, this history as it was today, show and search for documents in order to be able to establish all the historical facts. So that Poland can finally be the Poland of historical truth, because this truth itself honors those sons of Poland who can be considered the greatest, the most heroic, the most steadfast – says Andrzej Duda. – We remember. We remember all the steadfast ones. We remember in many places. The elderly remember, but above all, the most valuable thing is that the young remember. Honor and glory to the heroes, eternal memory of the fallen – he added.

Ceremony of awarding the Banner to the Command of the Territorial Defense Forces

The President referred to today's holiday in his speech at Piłsudski Square, where the ceremony of awarding the Banner to the Command of the Territorial Defense Forces took place.

– The day is special. It is the national Remembrance Day of the Cursed Soldiers. Those who did not agree with the fact that Poland, transferred under the patronage of the USSR, and in fact pushed into the Soviet sphere of influence, would be called a free and independent state. They didn't agree because, in fact, they knew she wasn't like that, said the president. – It breaks our hearts when we often remember this terrible fate, this poverty and the suffering experienced by those who fought for a free Poland until the very end. Who fought until the very end to keep their towns, villages, houses and farms free. They were boys from here, Duda continued. – There is great symbolism in the fact that on the day of their memory, the Territorial Defense Forces Command receives its banner, a certificate of readiness, verification of the unit and its excellence. WOT these are the boys from here. Boys and girls who serve their country usually near their homes, cities, towns and villages – he emphasized.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz also took part in the ceremony at Piłsudski Square.

– The day is symbolic, because bowing your head before the banner today also means bowing your head before the hero. This steadfast, this cursed one, whose remains we cannot find to this day, like General August Fieldorf “Nil”, like Col. Pilecki, as well as many nameless people who rest somewhere in Poland and have not been found. But they are commemorated, Kosiniak-Kamysz emphasized.

On the occasion of the National Remembrance Day of the “Cursed Soldiers”, the president and the head of the Ministry of National Defense laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Head of the Ministry of National Defense: The state will not stop searching for the victims of the communist regime

The head of the Ministry of National Defense had already honored the memory of the cursed soldiers together with the commanders of the Polish Army by laying flowers on the so-called Łączka, i.e. in the “Ł” Quarter at the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw.

The head of the Ministry of National Defense emphasized that research has been carried out in this place for 12 years, and new places of burial, burial, and sometimes brutal throwing into the grave of the executed have been discovered – very often using the Katyn method, i.e. a shot in the back of the head from a close distance, with often tied hands. “.

– These are hundreds of victims who are buried today in dignified places, with names and surnames, at Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw, but there are also many places that still require archaeological, anthropological and genetic research. These studies have been conducted for several years, and approximately half a thousand such places in Poland have been examined. Hundreds of victims have been identified, but Gen. August Emil Fieldorf “Nil”, Col., has still not been identified. Witold Pilecki – said Kosiniak-Kamysz.

The head of the Ministry of National Defense assured that the Polish state will not stop searching for the victims of the communist regime.

– True, freedom will always win. Sometimes great sacrifices are needed, sometimes it takes a lot of time, but there comes a moment when we can at least commemorate them, and finally we can win, just like the efforts of the soldiers fighting after the end of World War II, the Cursed Soldiers, because Poland was reborn in 1989. Without them there would be no evidence of this, he pointed out.

On behalf of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, Minister Wojciech Kolarski laid flowers in front of the Pantheon-Mausoleum in the “Ł” quarter.

In the area of ​​Łączka, in the years 1945-1956, prisoners murdered by communist security officers were secretly buried in mass, nameless graves, often in the Mokotów prison. At that time it was the area next to the cemetery wall. For several years, a composting plant and a garbage dump operated in the place of the current “Ł” plot, but in 1964 this area was incorporated into the Military Cemetery. Since 2015, the Pantheon – Mausoleum of the Cursed and Unbroken – has been located in this place.

National Remembrance Day of the “Cursed Soldiers”

The National Remembrance Day of the “Cursed Soldiers” is a Polish public holiday celebrated every year since 2011 on March 1, on the anniversary of the murder of members of the 4th Board of the “Freedom and Independence” Association, which took place in the Mokotów prison in 1951. The last leaders of “WiN” formed the leadership of the last nationwide conspiracy continuing the work of the Home Army since 1945.

The holiday is a tribute to the heroes of the anti-communist underground who opposed Soviet aggression and the imposed communist regime. The idea of ​​its establishment was supported in 2010 by both Law and Justice and the Civic Platform. A draft bill on this matter, under the influence of veterans' organizations, was submitted to the Sejm by President Lech Kaczyński, and after his tragic death in the Smolensk disaster, it was continued by President Bronisław Komorowski.

The holiday also has many critics who emphasize that the term “Cursed Soldiers” itself is too broad and inappropriate to describe such a diverse environment as soldiers of the anti-communist and independence underground operating in the last days of World War II and for many years after it. Critics also point out that in this way underground heroes with glorious biographies are mixed with units that allegedly committed war crimes or practiced common banditry after the war.

Who were the “Cursed”?

The Cursed were a very diverse group of armed men, which consisted of soldiers of the Home Army, the National Armed Forces and soldiers of the Polish People's Republic. From 1943 to 1945, almost 25,000 deserted from the ranks of the People's Army. soldiers and officers, some of them joined partisan units. Their motivation was often the repression of Home Army soldiers and other organizations fighting for freedom.

It is estimated that the Polish anti-communist underground had approximately 250,000 members in its ranks, including approximately 40,000 soldiers who fought with weapons in their hands. After the amnesty in 1947, the independence underground numbered no more than two thousand people. They opposed the communist administration, fought against the activities of the NKVD and the UB in Poland, freed those arrested from prison, stigmatized collaborators and liquidated traitors. In total, the Cursed carried out 12,000 actions, in which 529 officers of the Security Service (security service) and the Citizens' Militia (citizens' militia), 429 soldiers of the Red Army and 303 soldiers of the Polish People's Army were killed.

Sergeant Józek Franczak alias is considered to be the last partisan of the anti-communist underground. “Dolls”. He fought from September 1939 as a professional cadet in Rivne in Volhynia, then he was a member of the Home Army and later of “Freedom and Independence”. The Security Service of the Polish People's Republic tracked him down only in 1963. “Lalek” did not want to be arrested and died in a shootout with the militia and the Security Service.