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Polish president: Europe ‘indebted to Rising insurgents’

PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp 30.07.2014 12:59
Poland’s President Bronislaw Komorowski has said that today’s free Poland and a unifying Europe “will always be indebted” to those who took part in the Warsaw Rising in 1944.

President
President Bronislaw Komorowski speaking at a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Rising, Warsaw 30.07.2014 Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell

Speaking at a ceremony marking the beginning of a string of events surrounding the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Rising on 1 August, Komorowski said that the Rising, which claimed the lived of around 250,000 Poles during the 63 days of fighting, was “not just a fight for the capital, but for human dignity”.

“It is thanks to you [veterans] that the Rising is an indelible part of Warsaw’s and the nation’s [collective] memory, and will serve as a live point of reference outside Poland’s borders,” Komorowski said during the ceremony at the Warsaw Rising Museum.

“Thank-you for fighting for the future, for the future of Poland and entire world,” President Komorowski added.

The
The anchor symbol used during the Warsaw Rising. Photo: cc/wikimedia/Halibutt

Rising symbol protected by law

Meanwhile, on Wednesday President Komorowski signed a bill which legally protects the ‘Fighting Poland’ symbol of the underground Home Army, which was widely used during the Warsaw Rising.

The anchor symbol will be protected by law, with anyone caught defacing it subject to a penalty. The bill was passed through on the initiation of a number of veterans’ organisations.

“Embracing the symbol of ‘Fighting Poland’ with honour and respect is a right and obligation of every Polish citizen,” the new bill underlines.

A copy of the bill, which enters into force in two weeks, was handed over by President Komorowski to the president of the Warsaw Rising Veterans’ Association, General Zbigniew Scibor-Rylski, as well as the Global Association of Home Army Veterans, Leszek Zukowski.

The characteristic anchor as a symbol of ‘Fighting Poland’ was adopted during a clandestine competition announced in 1942 by the Information and Propaganda Office of the Home Army General Headquarters.

The anchor, penned by art history student Anna Smolenska, was chosen from among 27 propositions. (jb)

Source: PAP

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