General Anders Army exhibition opens in New York
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
13.03.2017 15:23
An exhibition documenting the formation of the Polish Army in the Soviet Union in 1941, under the command of General Władysław Anders, has opened in New York. It remains on show until 25 March at the Polish-Slavic Federal Credit Union.
Anders's daughter, Anna Maria Anders, attended the opening of the exhibition. Photo: Facebook.com/Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union
Entitled “Trail of Hope”, the exhibition shows the evacuation of Polish soldiers and civilians from Soviet Russia to Iran in a broad historical context, starting with the Soviet aggression on Poland on 17 September 1939, and the Polish-Soviet agreement of 30 July 1941.
The latter led to the formation of a Polish army from the survivors of some 1.5 million Poles who had been captured by the Soviets in 1939, or later deported to the Soviet Union. The army’s commander was General Władysław Anders.
His daughter, Anna Maria Anders, a member of the Polish Senate, said during the opening of the exhibition: “My father saved the lives of some 120,000 people. Two thousand Poles were buried on Iranian soil. I want the world to remember it”.
Polish soldiers under General Anders’s command fought with the British 8th Army, as the so-called Polish Second Corps, crossing the Mediterranean to Italy. In May 1944, they suffered great losses in the capture of Monte Cassino.
Among those attending the exhibition opening ceremony in New York were Antoni Chrościelewski, a hero of the battle of Monte Cassino, and Linda and Bob Ollis, the parents of Michael Ollis, an American soldier who died in Afghanistan shielding a Polish soldier from a suicide bomber. (mk/rg/pk)