Poland’s ‘Cursed Soldiers’ commemorated in Warsaw
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
10.11.2016 14:26
A plaque commemorating Polish partisans who fought against the imposition of communism was unveiled on Warsaw’s iconic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Thursday.
Andrzej Duda at plaque unveiling. Photo: Twitter.com/@prezydentpl
Polish President Andrzej Duda and Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz unveiled the new epitaph.
Macierewicz said Poland’s “highest aim” was to cultivate the memory of the so-called “Cursed Soldiers”.
“We are fulfilling [their] testament, making Poland strong and independent, prosperous and just,” Macierewicz said.
Duda said: “Thanks to the heroism of the ‘Cursed Soldiers’, thousands of Poles were saved.”
The 'Cursed Soldiers' “stood in defence of their countrymen, who were subjected to terrorism by new authorities instated in our country by Stalin’s will,” Duda said earlier this year.
Poland's official underground army (AK) of World War II was disbanded in January 1945, but thousands of Poles continued to fight in other formations as the Soviet Red Army extended its grip across the country.
A Soviet-backed communist regime was later installed in rigged 1947 elections after the war.
The anti-communist guerrillas were largely stamped out by 1948, although one fighter, Józef Franczak, was gunned down as late as 1963. (vb/pk)
Source: PAP