2020-08-01 13:03 update: 2020-08-08, 13:47
Photo PAP/Wojciech Olkuśnik
On the 76th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Poland’s Nazi German occupiers, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki paid tribute to the insurgents during commemorative ceremonies held at the Warsaw Rising Museum on Saturday.
The prime minister laid flowers at a bell commemorating the uprising's commander, Gen. Antoni Chrusciel, nom-de-guerre Monter, and at a plaque devoted to Poland's late President Lech Kaczynski, both sites located at the museum.
The Warsaw Uprising was to restore freedom not only to the capital tormented by the occupation, but also to all of Poland, Morawiecki said at the events.
"We think with great gratitude about those who then faced the unequal battle against Nazi Germany, we want the memory of them to last," he added.
According to Morawiecki, in the light of the then geopolitical situation and the situation on the war front, it was difficult to imagine a different decision than to stand up to fight.
"This decision was not only the most logical, but also resulted from the mood in Warsaw at that time, the mood among the civilian population and the youth," he said.
"Today, we think with great gratitude about those who then stood up with arms in the unequal battle against Nazi Germany, with great gratitude and love we think about all of Warsaw that was on fire at that time, and about all those who died, all who survived. We want this memory to be remembered, to last to this day," Morawiecki said.
He cited the late President Lech Kaczynski who had said that a free Poland was born out of the toil, effort and blood of the Warsaw Uprising fighters.
"It was a milestone on the way to a free Poland," Morawiecki added.
In the prime minister's opinion, "the memory of the war provides us with the foundation for understanding today's reality". "To go into the future, you need to know where you come from. The inhabitants of Warsaw, the inhabitants of Poland, wanted to fight for a sovereign, independent Republic of Poland, they fought in hopeless circumstances, but they strived for peace," he said. (PAP)
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