Post-war underground honoured on 'Day of Cursed Soldiers'

During a ceremony at the Presidential Palace, Komorowski confirmed the names of five operatives whose remains have been positively identified in recent months.

Documentation of the finds was presented to relatives of the fallen.

The subject of the so-called 'Cursed Soldiers' was taboo during the communist era, and it was not until 2011 that an official day of rememembrance was introduced.

Komorowski thanked the Institutute of National Remembrance (IPN), which has spearheaded efforts to locate the remains of victims.

''Every year, through joint efforts, new, tragic elements are added to our much-needed knowledge of these people and their deaths,'' he said.

The president noted that the exhumation of 'Cursed Soldiers' is ''a delicate matter'', as the victims were often buried in unmarked graves beneath those of ordinary civilians.

However, ''it must be done,'' he added.

Among those identified in the recent wave of exhumations was Danuta Siedzikówna (codename Inka), a field nurse who was just 17 when she was executed in 1946. Her remains were discovered at the Garrison Cemetery in Gdańsk. The other four operarives recently identified were Edward Pytka, Joseph Kozłowski, Marian Kaczmarek.

March 1 was selected as a poignant date for the day of remembrance, as on that day in 1951, seven prominent members of post-war resistance force Freedom and Independence (WiN) were executed in Warsaw following a trial at a military court. (nh)

Source: PAP