President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki took part in events on Tuesday to mark the Day of the Struggle and Martyrdom of the Polish Countryside, which is observed annually on July 12, state news agency PAP reported.
The president visited the southeastern village of Sochy, which in 1943 was razed by Poland's Nazi German occupiers. According to historians, some 180 people were killed in the Nazi German raid at the time, with just a few dozen residents managing to survive.
After laying flowers at the local memorial, Duda told the gathering: “When it came to standing up in defence of the homeland, especially in the 20th century … it wasn’t possible to defend Poland without the Polish countryside.”
The president added that it was rural residents who formed the backbone of Poland’s World War II resistance movement, symbolised by such organisations as the Home Army (AK) and the Polish Peasants’ Battalions (BCh).
“Without them, this real underground struggle, an effective struggle that struck fear into the occupiers, would not have happened,” Duda said.
'Glory to the heroes'
Meanwhile, Morawiecki issued a letter to those commemorating the Day of the Struggle and Martyrdom of the Polish Countryside in the eastern village of Osówek.
According to historians, more than 40 people were killed there in September 1942 as the Nazi Germans executed people who had been helping Polish partisans.
Morawiecki wrote: “During World War II, the Germans cracked down on over 800 Polish villages ... We must never forget these crimes.”
He added: “The heroism and sacrifice of the inhabitants of Polish villages represents an undisputed contribution to the survival of our homeland.”
“Glory to the heroes,” Morawiecki concluded.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, prezydent.pl