Poland on Tuesday marked a national day of remembrance honouring those who rescued Jews under German occupation.
The annual observance commemorates the murder on March 24, 1944 of members of the Polish family of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma by German military police. The Ulmas had been sheltering Jews in the village of Markowa in the southeast of the country.
Marking the occasion, Rose published a video message on social media praising Poles who he said "risked everything—their homes, their families, and their very lives—to save Jews" during the Holocaust.
"Thousands of Poles died saving Jews," he said.
Across Poland, in hundreds of villages and cities, in private homes and orphanages, thousands of Poles risked their lives to save their Jewish neighbours through acts of courage and sacrifice, he added, "even when it was dangerous, even when no one was watching, even when the price was their own life."
He was referring to Nazi measures under which helping or hiding Jews in German-occupied Poland during the war was punishable by death.
"Their conscience was their courage, and their courage was their power," he said. "And because of it, thousands lived, and Poland's name lives on in glory," he added.
"For all those thousands of Poles who risked their lives to save Jews, we can only say: may their memory be a blessing—for Poland, for the Jewish people, and for all mankind," he concluded.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki on Tuesday attended a ceremony in the north-central city of Toruń, where he unveiled a plaque commemorating seven more Poles who saved Jews during the Holocaust, his office said.
In a special tribute on Tuesday evening, the façade of the Polish presidential palace was illuminated to honour "those often nameless heroes, many of whom paid with their own lives and the lives of their loved ones for the help and mercy they showed," officials said.
In a special tribute on Tuesday evening, the façade of the Polish presidential palace was illuminated to honour "those often nameless heroes, many of whom paid with their own lives—and the lives of their loved ones—for the help and mercy they showed," officials said.
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Source: IAR, PAP, polskieradio24.pl