Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Explore Poland’s rich history in 2024, from the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising to the centennial celebrations of notable figures like Antoni Baraniak, Marek Hłasko, and Wincenty Witos. Immerse yourself in pivotal political, cultural, and societal events, honoring the legacy of these individuals and the nation’s accomplishments.
March
25 years ago, on March 12, 1999, Poland became a member of NATO.
100 years ago, on March 14, 1924, the League of Nations awarded Poland the territory on the Westerplatte Peninsula.
200 years ago, on March 23, 1824, in Saracei, Podolia, Zygmunt Fortunat Miłkowski was born, known under the pseudonym Teodor Tomasz Jeż. He was a participant in the January Uprising, a writer, independence activist, creator of the ideas of active defense and national treasury, founder of the Polish League, and one of the co-creators of the national democracy movement. Under the pseudonym Teodor Tomasz Jeż, he wrote 80 novels.
“The Sejm of the Republic of Poland, on the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Zygmunt Miłkowski – Jeż, a soldier and writer, steadfast independence activist, creator of the ideas of active defense and national treasury, declares the year 2024 as the Year of Zygmunt Miłkowski” – states the resolution adopted by the Sejm on July 28, 2023.
230 years ago, on March 24, 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko took the oath on the Kraków Market Square and became the leader of the insurrection aimed at rebuilding a fully sovereign Republic of Poland.
80 years ago, on March 24, 1944, for saving their Jewish neighbors in Markowa, Podkarpacie, German occupiers murdered the Ulma family. In the mass execution, the following individuals were killed: two daughters of the Ulma’s neighbors – Golda (Genia) Gruenfeld and Lea Didner with her small child, and three Szall brothers, their father Saul Szall, and another man from the Szall family. Then, in front of the Ulma children, Józef and his pregnant wife Wiktorja were shot. Finally, the children – eight-year-old Stanisława, six-year-old Barbara, five-year-old Władysław, four-year-old Franciszek, three-year-old Antoni, and one-and-a-half-year-old Maria were killed.
In 1995, Wiktoria and Józef Ulma were posthumously honored with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. In 2016, the Ulma Family Polish Rescuers of Jews Museum was opened in Markowa. In 2023, the family was beatified.