The remains of the three Polish presidents-in-exile have been brought to Poland from a military cemetery in Newark, Nottinghamshire, England.
Funeral and burial ceremonies are set to be held later on Saturday at a newly created Mausoleum of the Presidents of the Republic of Poland housed in the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw.
The burial will be preceded by funeral ceremonies including top Polish officials.
Hailing the arrival of the remains at the Okęcie Military Airport in Warsaw on Saturday afternoon, Poland’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: “After a long journey [the three presidents] are returning to their homeland."
"They are coming where they belong. Now, they will for ever witness the truth, continuation and dream of a great Poland," Morawiecki added.
The project to bring back the presidential remains, dubbed "Mission: Free Poland", was started in 2018 on the centenary of Poland regaining its independence and comes under the auspices of president Andrzej Duda.
The presidents will rest in the Temple of Divine Providence which houses the remains of some of the greatest Poles in history and is a national and religious symbol in Poland.
Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski and Stanisław Ostrowski were among six Polish presidents who led the exiled governments during and after World War II.
The government was set up in the aftermath of the invasion and occupation of Poland in September 1939 by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. It moved from France to London the following year.
The government-in-exile continued to function until 1990, during decades of postwar Soviet-backed communist rule in Poland.
However, whereas during the war it had been officially recognised by the Allies as Poland’s legitimate government, that status was withdrawn after 1945.
(mo)
Source: IAR, www.gov.pl