Download 73rd Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

18.IV.2016
73rd Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
“There is a need for everything that has happened in the years 1939–1945, in this city, in this country, on this land, to
be preserved, memorialized and clearly understood," said Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of National
Defence, Wojciech Fałkowski during anniversary commemorations of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Ceremonies commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising took place in Warsaw
on Monday. Tribute was given to fallen uprising participants, in among other locations, the Monument to
Jews and Poles Common Martyrdom in Warsaw in the Wola District, at the Monument of the Jewish
Combat Organization, at the Stefan Władysław Matzevah and the Monument to the Heroes of the
Warsaw Ghetto.
“This is the place, which merged the struggling and often accidental witnesses to the Holocaust, both of
the Jewish and Catholic faiths. This is the place, which joined Poles of different faiths, different religions
and different world outlooks. This is a place to which we come, bow our heads and reflect on what
occurred here and what this tells us about the future,” stressed Deputy Minister Fałkowski at the
cemetery mausoleum, which was built on the collective, common graves of Jews and Poles.
The commemorative anniversary took place with the participation of the military company of honor. In
places of honor, a roll call to those who have fallen was read, followed by honorary volley salutes.
Representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and rabbis offered prayers for the victims of the Uprising,
and delegations laid wreaths and flowers.
The Undersecretary noted at the Warsaw Wola Monument: “The symbolic meaning of this monument,
the symbol of this place lives on, and it should clearly teach us that mutual solidarity, also in times of
war, but most of all in cooperation, primarily in the face of the fate of humanity, is necessary, and is also
something natural.”
Commemorative ceremonies were attended by representatives of the City of Warsaw, The Office for War
Veterans and Victims of Oppression, Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites, the
Institute of National Remembrance, the Nissenbaum Family Foundation and representatives of local
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authorities, the military, NGOs and religious communities.
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The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on the eve of the Jewish Passover, on 19 April 1943. Its outburst
occurred, coinciding with an order given by Heinrich Himmler concerning the final disposal of the
Warsaw Ghetto, where during that period there were about 50–70,000 people. At the time of entering
into the Ghetto, the German Nazi troops were stopped by insurgents, who took a heroic stand against
the enemy. Over the next weeks, the SS and police forces, along with Ukrainian and Latvian auxiliary
formations, crushed the blood-soaked Uprising. The entire area of the Jewish quarter was subsequently
methodically annihilated, and on 16 May 1943 the Great Synagogue of Warsaw was blown up. Despite
the announcement that the Uprising was suppressed, the fighting lasted until June 1943, and a few
remaining insurgents were left in hiding in the former Ghetto area until 1944.
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