On Saturday, Poland will remember the participants of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 for the 76th time. During the ceremony, we will be able to meet the dwindling number of fighters who have survived to the present day. Poles will also remember the graves of those who are considered to be forever young: those who died in the fight for freedom.
The graves of Home Army soldiers from the “Żywiciel” group were cleaned, thanks to the initiative of Anna Szarejko from the Odra Niemen association. This event at the Warsaw Powązki Military District is the fifth in a row, and is taking place in connection with the approaching 76th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising.
Krzysztof Krzemiński of Odra Niemen Association welcomes everyone to help.“Any private person who joins us today is welcome, mainly because participation in such events comes from the goodness of the heart, and we can above all develop patriotic values. It is very important to clean these graves because they are not rented or visited by cleaning companies. They are completely private graves, often forgotten, as the families of these insurgents have already passed away”.
Almost 300 crosses and almost 150 graves. This year’s initiative was once again supported by young soldiers of the Territorial Defense Forces, this time from the 43rd Light Infantry Battalion in Braniewo. Anna Szczpańska who came hundreds of kilometers said: “Since the beginning of our brigade we have been trying to support all patriotic initiatives, as well as organizing many events ourselves. We are in Warsaw for the first time this year because we are from Warmia and Masuria. For the first time as the 4th Warmian-Masurian Territorial Defense Brigade we arrived in such a large group, 40 soldiers who willingly arrived to commemorate the heroes of the fights for our free Poland”.
LTC Artur Lichończak of the same unit is certain they did a great job. “We, as the 4th Brigade, are taking part in the cleaning of the graves of Warsaw insurgents for the first time, but certainly not for the last time. The best thing about today’s event is that the soldiers and volunteers who are with us today have devoted their free time to honor the memory of the soldiers of the Warsaw Uprising”.
The Warsaw Uprising took place between 1 August and 2 October 1944. During the 63 days of fighting, 150 thousand civilians, as well as 18 thousand soldiers of the Home Army and other formations died. After the fall of the Uprising, the Germans destroyed the majority of left-bank Warsaw.