Posting a link on his Twitter social networking website, Minister Sikorski described the ultimately doomed resistance by the Polish Home Army as a “national catastrophe.”
MPs from the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party say that the remark is a stain against the memory of Polish patriots.
Monday, 1 August, marks the 67th anniversary of the Warsaw Rising.
Led by the underground army that was loyal to the Polish government-in-exile, the Warsaw Rising ultimately led to the deaths of approximately 180,000 civilians.
The city was left in ruins, and much of what remained was then dynamited on Hitler's orders before the Nazis made a retreat as the Soviet Red Army watched from over the river.
Minister Sikorski had noted on his Twitter page that the nation “could draw lessons from this national catastrophe”.
PiS politicians note, however, in a letter sent to the Foreign Ministry that such an “undermining” of the “heroic” legacy of the insurgents bore similarities with the practices of the communist authorities.
During the Cold War era, the underground Home Army (AK) was often painted in crude colours by the authorities. In the immediate aftermath of the war, leaders of the Rising had been rounded up the communists and in some cases executed.
During the Cold War era, the underground Home Army (AK) was often painted in crude colours by the authorities. In the immediate aftermath of the war, leaders of the Rising had been rounded up by the communists and in some cases executed.
Generally speaking, the decision to launch the Warsaw Rising has always been controversial. While some regarded it as a courageous bid to throw off the Nazi shackles, others believe it was a suicidal operation.
General Wladyslaw Anders, one of the key figures in the Free Polish Army in the West during WW II, was among those that felt the Rising should never have been declared.
Honours
Meanwhile, President Bronislaw Komorowski decorated a number of veterans yesterday at the Warsaw Rising Museum, expressing his hope that their struggle becomes increasingly known both at home and abroad.
Further ceremonies are due to take place today at the museum, with some 1700 veterans set to gather, some of whom will also be decorated with national honours.
Former combatants will be arriving from the UK, USA, Australia, South Africa and elsewhere today.
For many, the defeat of the Warsaw Rising symbolised the loss of Polish independence. With the communists ultimately taking power following the Red Army's so-called liberation of Warsaw, many veterans went in to exile, where a good deal of them ended their days. (nh/pg)