Today at noon, the Polish delegation laid wreaths on the graves of Polish aviators and the graves where Polish presidents-in-exile rested until recently – at Newark Cemetery. In a few days – on November 12 – Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski and Stanislaw Ostrowski will be buried in the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw.
“Today, many Polish & English representatives are paying their respects to former Polish Presidents Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski & Stanisław Ostrowski before they are repatriated in Poland. The Presidents have been exhumed from Newark cemetery so they can return to Poland,” Newark and Sherwood District Council informed on Twitter. “After a service at the cemetery this morning, guests are attending a service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Newark. If you are in the town centre, you will see many Polish dignitaries, residents and press from Poland and the UK capturing this momentous and important day.”
After a service at the cemetery this morning, invited guests are attending a service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Newark. If you are in the town centre, you will see many Polish dignitaries, residents and press from Poland and the UK capturing this momentous and important day.
— Newark and Sherwood District Council (@NSDCouncil) November 6, 2022
The Polish Airmen’s Cemetery in Newark-on-Trent was the previous burial place of the first three presidents of the Polish Republic in exile – Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski and Stanislaw Ostrowski.
Their remains were exhumed in early November and will be given a solemn farewell during today’s ceremonies. Newark is home to Britain’s largest necropolis of Polish airmen and representatives of other types of the Polish Armed Forces in the West.
Wreaths were laid by representatives of the President of Poland, the Prime Minister, the Ministers of National Defense and Foreign Affairs, the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) and the head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Repression Jan Józef Kasprzyk. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the local Polish community, including Polish scouts from Newark.
Family members joined dignitaries from Britain and Poland to lay the wreaths #Newark https://t.co/ccRC0shO6x
— Newark Advertiser (@advertisergroup) November 6, 2022,
Holy Mass at Newark’s St Mary Magdalene Church marks the repatriation of #RepublicInExile Presidents W. Raczkiewicz, A. Zaleski, S. Ostrowski. Representatives of @prezydentpl, @RoyalFamily, PL & UK parliaments, govs & military, local authorities, the Presidents’ relatives present pic.twitter.com/Xjbk2UPw8t
— Polish Embassy UK (@PolishEmbassyUK) November 6, 2022
Ahead of repatriation ceremonies for #RepublicInExile Presidents W. Raczkiewicz, A. Zaleski & S. Ostrowski, @prezydentpl, @PLParliament, @PolskiSenat, @PremierRP_en, @PolandMFA, @Poland_MOD, @PolishEmbassyUK, @Kombatanci & @ipngovpl representatives laid wreaths in Newark Cemetery pic.twitter.com/Fs2J4xh2Si
— Polish Embassy UK (@PolishEmbassyUK) November 6, 2022
The three presidents will rest in the newly established Mausoleum of the Presidents of the Republic of Poland in Exile at the Temple of Divine Providence. President Ryszard Kaczorowski is laid to rest in this temple. The second president of the Second Republic who lived to see independence, Edward Bernard Raczynski, died in 1993 and was buried in the family chapel in Rogalin, Greater Poland. Kazimierz Sabbat rests in London’s Gunnersbury Cemetery.