Several hundred people took part in commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising. Everyone gathered by the symbol of Fighting Poland in Bolesławiec’s planty park. At 5:00 p.m., the fallen were commemorated with a minute of silence and the wailing of sirens. The national anthem was sung, followed by an appeal from the ZHP Szare Szeregi Scout Troop in Bolesławiec. Scoutmaster Joanna Sawicka welcomed the guests. Bolesławiec’s mayor delivered a speech.
“There are two views in Poland on the Warsaw Uprising,” said Piotr Roman. “Today, we should not wonder whether the uprising was necessary or not. The uprising should be sacred to Poles, a founding myth of the Republic of Poland. The decision to begin it was made by residents who had experienced the fascists’ bestiality every day for five years. It was a difficult decision, made in an extremely complicated political situation at the end of World War II. Let us respect the dignity, heroism and bravery of the insurgents. Let us pay tribute to them. To a city of one million people that stood up to fight a cruel enemy. This is unprecedented in modern world history,” the mayor added.
After the roll call of the fallen and a volley fired in their honor, a brilliantly prepared reenactment of “Hour W” took place. The audience could experience the first hours of the uprising, the Warsaw residents’ first victories and—in a highly abbreviated form—the desperate course of the subsequent fighting.
The reenactment featured scouts from the ZHP Szare Szeregi Scout Troop in Bolesławiec, the Oberlausitz historical reenactment group, the Association of Former Soldiers of 62 KS Commando, as well as friends and unaffiliated allies.
The commemorations were organized by the Bolesławiec Cultural Center–International Ceramics Center and the ZHP Szare Szeregi Scout Troop in Bolesławiec. Co-organizers: the 23rd Silesian Artillery Regiment and the Association of Former Soldiers of 62 KS Commando. Mayor Piotr Roman served as honorary patron of the event.
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)