On November 11, 1918, Józef Piłsudski was appointed supreme commander of the Polish army by the Regency Council. To commemorate this event, Poland celebrates National Independence Day. The holiday was first established by the Polish lower house, the Sejm, in 1937. It was abolished in 1945 during communist rule and no official celebrations were held during that period. It was restored in 1989 by law and since then, National Independence Day on November 11 has been a day off from work.
On Saturday, a host of events will take place throughout the country and abroad. Polish diplomats will visit Polish memorial sites in many places around the world. ‘Commemorative running events will be held in Berlin and New York, while Holy Masses will be celebrated in Ottawa and Paris. In Florence, the mayor of Przemyśl, Wojciech Bakun, will be honored for his solidarity and help during the war in Ukraine’, Poland's TVP World reports.
Taking place at Marshal Józef Pisudski Square, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, state ceremonies with the participation of the president are being held. This year they will be inaugurated at 10 a.m. Polish time in the Temple of Divine Providence. The Holy Mass for the homeland will be officiated by Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, according to officials.
Also, the annual Independence Run will be held in the Polish capital for the 33rd time to celebrate the recovery of the country’s sovereignty. The 10-kilometre route leads around the city’s downtown area, with kick-off scheduled for 11:11 a.m.
As Culture Minister Piotr Gliński said at a news conference in Warsaw on Tuesday, ‘The government will hold a multitude of events to mark Independence Day, including the collective singing of the Polish national anthem at noon and the annual Independent Poland Festival on Warsaw’s Krakowskie Przedmieście Street. November 11 would see ‘a joyous and family-based celebration of the 105th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence.’
The event offers a mixture of dances, music parades, fashion shows, stage performances, and VR films, set against the backdrop of 1920s Warsaw, complete with vintage cars of the period. Also, actors portraying Poland’s independence fathers, including Marshal Józef Piłsudski, will reenact landmark speeches that played a part in the country’s re-emergence as a sovereign country in 1918, according to officials.
At 14:00, the traditional Independence March will pass through the streets of the capital, the PAP news agency reported.
Poland regained independence on November 11, 1918, the day World War I ended, after 123 years of partition by Russia, Austria, and Prussia.
(aj)
SOURCE: PAP, TVP World, IAR, dziennik.pl