March 24 marks a special memorial day in the country dedicated to Poles who risked their lives to save their Jewish neighbours from the Holocaust.
On March 24, 1944, German military police killed members of the Polish family of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, who were sheltering Jews in the village of Markowa in the southeast of the country.
To mark the anniversary, officials honoured the victims during remembrance events at sites including the Ulma Family Museum in Markowa.
Plaques on the wall of the Ulma Family Museum, at Markowa in the southeast of Poland, commemorating those who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust during World War II. Photo: PAP/Darek Delmanowicz
President Andrzej Duda on Monday attended a ceremony in the north-central city of Toruń, where he unveiled a plaque commemorating three more Poles who saved Jews from the Holocaust, state news agency PAP reported.
Duda said at the ceremony that the memorial day aims to honour the memory of all Poles who helped Jews during the Holocaust and who often died for doing so.
He told the gathering that although helping Jews was punishable by death in German-occupied Poland during World War II, many people risked their lives to assist their Jewish neighbours.
"It is a source of great pride for us that there were Polish people who were not afraid—that, fully aware of the threat not only to themselves but also to their loved ones, they were ready to help and give their lives for their friends and neighbours, for decency, for goodness, for human dignity," Duda said.
The Roman Catholic Church in 2023 beatified the Polish Ulma family, who lost their lives for hiding Jews during WWII.
In the Catholic Church, beatification is one stage short of being declared a saint.
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Source: IAR, PAP
Click on the player icon above for an audio report by Marcin Matuszewski.