“This monument is a symbol of contempt for the German perpetrators of crimes during the Second World War,” stated Karol Nawrocki, President of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), during a ceremony in Ciepielów. He emphasized that we must not forget historical truth, even though many individuals attempt to manipulate it.
On Monday, a monument was unveiled in Ciepielów to commemorate the residents who saved Jews during World War II. Among those present at the ceremony was President Andrzej Duda. Following the President’s address, Karol Nawrocki, President of the IPN, delivered remarks.
The historian recalled the scale of German atrocities and stressed that “World War II remains a crime for which justice has not yet been served.”
“This is a crime for which the Polish state, we here in Ciepielów, and Poles across the country still await justice. And we cannot agree to allow smooth words to lead us into forgetting. No—we will not forget. We are here precisely because we are not permitted to forget,”
he declared.
He stated that the unveiled monument is “a tribute—a monument of respect from our nation to both the heroes and the victims.”
“But it is also a monument of contempt toward the German perpetrators,” he emphasized.
“This monument is also a symbol of protest—a protest that is personal to me, as President of the Institute of National Remembrance, and to my colleagues. A protest against those historical charlatans, those politicians, and those institutional leaders who do not want us to know the truth about ourselves. They manipulate historical knowledge, remove heroes from museums, and alter core curricula so that we no longer hear about who we truly are as the Polish nation,”
he stated.