Earlier in the day, President Nawrocki laid flowers at a memorial dedicated to the victims of the Wola Massacre as Poland marked the 82nd anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising.
Addressing the gathered crowd, the president described the Warsaw Uprising as a battle for Poland's freedom and liberation from the horrors of Nazi German occupation. He also argued that the uprising was fought to preserve Poland's independence in the face of the advancing Soviet Red Army.
"The Warsaw Uprising was a struggle against two totalitarian systems that shared the same goal – the destruction of the Polish state," Nawrocki said. He compared Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, describing them as two oppressive regimes that threatened Poland's sovereignty.
The president also paid tribute to the civilians who suffered during the uprising, particularly those who were not members of the Polish resistance but became victims of brutal violence.
"The Warsaw Uprising was not only about heroic combat but also about the suffering of innocent people, murdered children, women, and the elderly who simply wanted to survive the German occupation," he said. "Warsaw's Wola district remains the most tragic symbol of that suffering. Every street, every gate, every building in Wola is stained with the blood of civilians murdered with unimaginable brutality."
Nawrocki emphasized that Poland continues to remember the more than 50,000 civilians killed in the Wola district on August 5, 1944. He thanked scouts, local activists, and community organizations for preserving the memory of the massacre and urged people to remember the victims not merely as statistics but as individuals whose lives were taken simply because they were Polish and lived in Warsaw.
The president criticized the lack of accountability for those responsible for the massacre.
He called on the international community to ensure that those responsible for mass atrocities are brought to justice.
"The world will not become better unless it holds dictators, murderers, and criminals accountable for what they have done," Nawrocki said. "No resolutions, conventions, or international debates will move humanity forward if the world lacks the courage to condemn those who murdered women and children – not only after 1945, but also in the 21st century."
The Wola Massacre formed part of Nazi Germany's plan, ordered directly by Adolf Hitler, to destroy Warsaw and exterminate its population following the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising. Historians estimate that between 40,000 and 60,000 residents of the district were executed during mass killings. While the largest wave of massacres ended on August 7, smaller-scale killings continued until August 12.
(aj)
SOURCE: IAR; PAP