At the “Anchor”—the symbol of Fighting Poland—residents of Bolesławiec, representatives of local governments, associations and institutions, as well as scouts, accompanied by soldiers of the 23rd Silesian Artillery Regiment, honored the memory of the Cursed Soldiers, the steadfast soldiers of the anti-communist underground after World War II.
The annual observance of the National Remembrance Day of the “Cursed Soldiers” provides an opportunity to honor the memory of these people and their postwar struggle. It is also an unusual history lesson that helps correct the distorted image of Poland’s independence underground—often called “reactionary gangs” or “bandits” during the Polish People’s Republic—and restore its rightful place in the history books and in the awareness of many Poles. The independent academic research conducted after 1989 and the establishment of the Institute of National Remembrance contributed to the beginning of this process.
March 1 is a symbolic date. On that day in 1951, members of the 4th Main Board of the Freedom and Independence Association—the leadership of the last nationwide organization continuing the Home Army tradition from 1945—were murdered by shots to the back of the head in Mokotów Prison in Warsaw. In February 2011, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland adopted a law under which March 1 became the National Remembrance Day of the “Cursed Soldiers”.