The remains of three former presidents-in-exile of the Polish government are to make a historic return to Poland on the 12th of November where they will be laid to rest in a newly established mausoleum.
The process of the repatriation of the remains of Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski and Stanisław Ostrowski, the first three Presidents-in-exile between 1939-1979, began on the 3rd of November with the exhumation of their remains and their ceremonial send-off at Newark’s St Mary Magdalene Church and Newark Town Hall last weekend.
The remains were earlier exhumed from the cemetery in Newark-on-Trent, a location closely connected with Poland and its fight for independence.
The Cemetery of Polish Airmen is one of the largest Polish military necropolises in the UK and was also the burial place of General Władysław Sikorski before his remains were repatriated in 1993.
The Polish government-in-exile was a government formed after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939 and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union.
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 pic.twitter.com/uuVIWs6gTb
— Newark and Sherwood District Council (@NSDCouncil) November 6, 2022