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WWII Jewish fighters honoured in Warsaw

19.04.2021 13:15
Sirens wailed, prayers were said and symbolic paper daffodils were handed out on the streets of the Polish capital on Friday to honour the heroes of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
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A mural in the Polish capital commemorates Jewish women who fought in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
A mural in the Polish capital commemorates Jewish women who fought in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

State officials, diplomats and members of Poland’s Jewish community were among those who joined events to mark 78 years since the outbreak of the World War II-era revolt, in which Jewish fighters took up arms against Poland’s German invaders.

A day of ceremonies included wreath-laying and a symbolic march of remembrance. Most memorial events were scaled down due to the COVID-19 health crisis.

Paper daffodils—a poignant echo of the yellow stars that Jews were made to wear during the Nazi German occupation—could be picked up from volunteers at subway stations as well as special vending machines. They could also be printed out using patterns available online.

Polish President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda took part in ceremonies in front of a monument in central Warsaw to honour the wartime fighters.

Polish President Andrzej Duda speaks to reporters during ceremonies in front of a monument honouring the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising fighters on Monday. Polish President Andrzej Duda speaks to reporters during ceremonies in front of a monument honouring the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising fighters on Monday. Photo: PAP/Mateusz Marek

During the commemoration, Duda reflected that the Jewish fighters 78 years ago fought for their dignity and honour, while choosing to "die with arms in their hands instead of in concentration camps or gas chambers."

"They just wanted to fight to the end," he said.

The Polish Prime Minister's Office said in a Twitter post that the fighters in the Warsaw ghetto "took up armed struggle to oppose Germany's final effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to concentration camps."

Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and the country's ambassador to Israel, Marek Magierowski, joined the commemorations together with diplomats around the world.

Later in the day, an array of academics and artists from various countries were set to mark the 78th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during an online event hosted by the New York-based Congress for Jewish Culture.

The event, scheduled for 1 p.m. EST, or 7 p.m. Warsaw time, was expected to feature music and readings by prominent artists and historians from countries including the United States, Canada and Australia.

'Heroism and dedication'

Poland’s parliamentarians in 2018 passed a special motion paying tribute to the Jewish fighters to mark the 75th anniversary of the uprising.

The Sejm, Poland’s lower house, said in the motion at the time that the fighters had shown "the highest heroism and dedication in defence of the universal values of human freedom and dignity."

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which broke out on April 19, 1943 and lasted until May 16, was the first uprising in German Nazi-occupied Europe and the largest act of armed resistance by Jews in World War II. It is estimated that about 13,000 insurgents died in the ghetto during the revolt.

Some surviving Jewish combatants later fought in the Warsaw Uprising, launched by Poland's underground Home Army (AK) on August 1, 1944.

The Warsaw ghetto, established in April 1940, was the largest of the many ghettos which the Germans set up across Poland to isolate the Jewish population after invading the country in September 1939.

The annual daffodil campaign is associated with noted ghetto fighter Marek Edelman, who before his death in 2009 placed daffodils at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw each year on the anniversary of the uprising.

The Polish president in December 2018 paid tribute to the last surviving Warsaw ghetto fighter who died in Israel at the age of 94.

(gs/pk)

Source: PAP, IAR, TVP Info

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