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Poland honours post-WWII anti-communist fighters

01.03.2021 07:48
Top politicians on Monday honoured Polish post-WWII resistance fighters who faced a brutal crackdown by the communist authorities.
President Andrzej Duda on Monday lays a wreath in Warsaw in tribute to victims of communist repression.
President Andrzej Duda on Monday lays a wreath in Warsaw in tribute to victims of communist repression. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange

President Andrzej Duda is scheduled to hand out state orders to the last of the living fighters, referred to by some as the “Cursed Soldiers” and by others as “indomitable soldiers.”

People who have worked to spread the word about their deeds are also set to receive honours on Monday afternoon at the presidential palace in Warsaw, said Wojciech Kolarski, a senior aide to Duda.

After Poland's official underground army (AK) of World War II disbanded, thousands of Poles continued to fight in other formations as the Soviet Red Army extended its grip across the country.

The “cursed soldiers” faced a brutal crackdown by Poland’s communist authorities and were a taboo subject during the country’s decades under communist rule.

Ceremony at 'wall of death' 

On Monday evening, Duda is expected to light a candle in commemoration at the so-called “wall of death” at a former prison on Rakowiecka street in Warsaw, where seven fighters were executed by the communist authorities 70 years ago.

The ceremonies will be scaled back compared to previous years because of the COVID-19 epidemic, and will take place with sanitary rules in place.

An official day of remembrance for the fighters was introduced in 2011, more than two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

(pk)

Source: PAP