As every year, on the eve of the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, the President of Poland met with the heroes of those events. This year Poles are celebrating the 78th anniversary of the 1944 Uprising.

The meeting with Warsaw insurgents, which took place on 30 July in Freedom Park on the grounds of the Warsaw Uprising Museum, began the celebrations of the 78th anniversary of the 1944 uprising. During the ceremony, President Andrzej Duda awarded state medals to the participants of the uprising and those who cultivate the memory of those events.

“Here, over the past years, I have said many times how great is the value of the uprising act, the memory of the Warsaw Uprising and the Warsaw Insurgents. How extraordinary, state-forming is the value of this armed act, this memory, this presence for the Republic of Poland”, emphasised the Polish President.

He pointed out that the Warsaw Insurgents are “a testimony to the attitude that a citizen, a young person should have to his homeland and to his compatriots”.

Every form of service in the Warsaw Uprising was invaluable and equally important. And that fighting with a rifle in hand on the line, and carrying reports, and the insurgent post, and service in the hospital. Each form was a service to the Polish Republic”, he stated.

In President Duda’s opinion, this way of thinking about the homeland, about matters important to it, also translates into the present times.

“I am thinking of the attitude that we, Poles, have adopted towards the war that started in Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion across our border. Thank you for conveying this sensitivity in such a way that we do not abandon anybody today”, said Andrzej Duda, addressing the insurgents.

Before the meeting, Andrzej Duda laid a wreath in front of a plaque commemorating Polish President Lech Kaczyński, the initiator of the Warsaw Uprising Museum.

Adrian Andrzejewski