The central commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the 2nd Polish Corps’ victory at Monte Cassino began with a solemn mass at the Polish War Cemetery.
President Andrzej Duda, accompanied by First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, and Italian President Sergio Mattarella attended the ceremony.
The main events marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino commenced on Saturday at 4 p.m. with a field mass at the Polish War Cemetery, led by Bishop Wiesław Lechowicz, the Field Bishop of the Polish Army.
Apart from the last living veterans of the 2nd Polish Corps, the ceremony is attended by prominent political figures including Senate Speaker Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska as well as Deputy Speakers Rafał Grupiński and Maciej Żywno, and head of the Office for Veterans and Victims of Oppression Lech Parell. Deputy Speaker Dorota Niedziela, along with MPs Andrzej Grzyb and Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, represent the lower house of parliament.
The event began with a roll call of the fallen, and the delegation of Polish authorities and veterans laid wreaths at the Virtuti Militari cross. Anna Maria Anders, Poland’s ambassador to Italy and the daughter of General Władysław Anders, the commander of the 2nd Polish Corps, was also present to lay flowers on the grave of her father, whose last will it was to be buried alongside his fallen men.
The main events marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino commenced on Saturday at 4 p.m. with a field mass at the Polish War Cemetery, led by Bishop Wiesław Lechowicz, the Field Bishop of the Polish Army.
Apart from the last living veterans of the 2nd Polish Corps, the ceremony is attended by prominent political figures including Senate Speaker Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska as well as Deputy Speakers Rafał Grupiński and Maciej Żywno, and head of the Office for Veterans and Victims of Oppression Lech Parell. Deputy Speaker Dorota Niedziela, along with MPs Andrzej Grzyb and Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, represent the lower house of parliament.
The event began with a roll call of the fallen, and the delegation of Polish authorities and veterans laid wreaths at the Virtuti Militari cross. Anna Maria Anders, Poland’s ambassador to Italy and the daughter of General Władysław Anders, the commander of the 2nd Polish Corps, was also present to lay flowers on the grave of her father, whose last will it was to be buried alongside his fallen men.
“They fought for Poland, they died for Poland. How many of them, walking beside the tanks, told themselves they were walking through the valley of darkness, but they would fear no evil. There are those here who never returned from that great battle. They are here in this cemetery, here they remain,” said president Duda. He noted that among them is also the grave of their commander, General Władysław Anders.
The President also referred to the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine
“‘Russkiy mir’ is not Russian culture; it is brutal domination over another person, subjugation of other nations, draining their blood, kidnapping their children to the east. It is Russification, the brutal force applied against other nations, which has nothing to do with modern democratic standards,” the president emphasized.
“From this place, the fallen soldiers call out to Europe for responsibility. They cry: never again war, [...] do not let Russian imperialism spread to other European countries,” Duda stressed.
The president pointed out that many people had forgotten that right after Germany attacked Poland in 1939, Russia (as the Soviet Union) also attacked Poland.
“As an ally of Germany, it tore Poland into two parts, and it was from this Soviet occupation that the soldiers who died here came,” he pointed out.
“They came from Soviet gulags, from exile, from distant Siberia, from Kazakhstan, where they spent years in slave labor, from which they managed to escape thanks to an agreement with the Western allies, because soldiers were needed at the front, and many of them were previously soldiers of the Polish army,” said Duda.
“Despite shedding blood on the fronts of World War II, despite winning at Monte Cassino, their heroism was overlooked by the allies. They did not take part in the victory parade, and Poland was handed over to the Soviets and remained behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years,” President Duda noted.
He assessed that in 1939, Poland was weak and could not defend itself because those who ruled Poland then lacked imagination. “Today we must draw conclusions from this, and we are doing so,” he said.
“I believe that today’s Europe has learned that lesson and will not allow Russian imperialism to seize countries and enslave people as it did in the past,” the president emphasized.
The President also referred to the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine
“‘Russkiy mir’ is not Russian culture; it is brutal domination over another person, subjugation of other nations, draining their blood, kidnapping their children to the east. It is Russification, the brutal force applied against other nations, which has nothing to do with modern democratic standards,” the president emphasized.
“From this place, the fallen soldiers call out to Europe for responsibility. They cry: never again war, [...] do not let Russian imperialism spread to other European countries,” Duda stressed.
The president pointed out that many people had forgotten that right after Germany attacked Poland in 1939, Russia (as the Soviet Union) also attacked Poland.
“As an ally of Germany, it tore Poland into two parts, and it was from this Soviet occupation that the soldiers who died here came,” he pointed out.
“They came from Soviet gulags, from exile, from distant Siberia, from Kazakhstan, where they spent years in slave labor, from which they managed to escape thanks to an agreement with the Western allies, because soldiers were needed at the front, and many of them were previously soldiers of the Polish army,” said Duda.
“Despite shedding blood on the fronts of World War II, despite winning at Monte Cassino, their heroism was overlooked by the allies. They did not take part in the victory parade, and Poland was handed over to the Soviets and remained behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years,” President Duda noted.
He assessed that in 1939, Poland was weak and could not defend itself because those who ruled Poland then lacked imagination. “Today we must draw conclusions from this, and we are doing so,” he said.
“I believe that today’s Europe has learned that lesson and will not allow Russian imperialism to seize countries and enslave people as it did in the past,” the president emphasized.
Source: TVP World, PAP
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