The ceremony, organized by the District Centre for Education and Staff Training and the Youth Cultural Centre in Bolesławiec, took place on November 12 in the assembly hall of I Liceum Ogólnokształcące. Everyone gathered had the opportunity to listen to patriotic songs performed by participants in the MDK vocal studio classes. Roksana Walczak, Joanna Stec, Celina Lampart, Justyna Orłowska, Alicja Kołacz and Barbara Szewczenko sang, among others, “O My Rosemary”, “The Lancers Came Under the Window” and “The Rota”.
Among those attending the ceremony were veterans, former resistance fighters and Siberian deportees. Deputy District Governor Stanisław Chwojnicki thanked everyone for what they had done and continued to do for their homeland.
The highlight of Wednesday’s Independence Day celebrations was a lecture by Prof. Grzegorz Strauchold, a historian from the University of Wrocław, devoted to independence. “What do we understand by the word independence?” the scholar asked. – “Imagine that some madman now declares the independence of Kurdistan. Do you know what would happen? Half the world would be turned upside down, and at least the Middle East.” The professor spoke, among other things, about how the concept of independence had evolved; that the word meant something different in the 19th century and has a different meaning in the 21st century, when Poland is a member of NATO and the European Union.
What is patriotism? “People put everything into this word: good education, honesty,” Hieronim Kosior, a retired colonel and participant in Wednesday’s ceremony, told IstotneInformacje.pl. – “But it is something higher, something more important.” Edward Mroczek, former commander of the 62nd Special Company, shares this view. “Patriotism means hard work every day. Like a flower, it must be cultivated and nurtured,” he says. “Patriotic ceremonies are organized with great pomp when round anniversaries occur. But work on raising young people’s awareness of our nation’s history should continue all the time,” he adds.
The ceremony was hosted by Ewa Lijewska and Cezariusz Rudyk.
(information ii)