In an opinion piece published by The Jerusalem Post, Piotr Gliński said that most of these events "are organized or funded by the Polish government, including as part of the program implemented by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage to support activities that preserve the legacy and memory of Polish Jews."
Gliński, who serves as a Polish deputy prime minister and minister of culture and national heritage, noted in his piece that the Warsaw Ghetto "was the largest in Europe created by the Germans during World War II" and that in July 1942 "the invaders began a mass deportation of Jews from the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp."
It is estimated that between 250,000 and 300,000 Jews were murdered at that time, according to Gliński. "About 100,000 died in the ghetto from starvation and disease resulting from the inhumane conditions created by the German oppressors," he said.
"We say 'Jews,' but we must remember that they were citizens of Poland, the multinational, multicultural Second Polish Republic," Gliński wrote in his opinion piece, which was posted by the Israeli newspaper on its website this week.
Gliński said: "It is therefore our common duty to commemorate the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – the largest Jewish uprising during World War II and the first urban uprising in occupied Europe – and keep in memory the courage of those who resisted the German occupiers."
He added: "We remember the past and draw on historical experience to build a better future. But we do not forget those who died or were murdered. The memory passed down through the generations must last forever. And today, we are its custodians."
The German and Israeli presidents are expected to visit Poland to mark 80 years since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, officials have confirmed.
Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Israel's Isaac Herzog will meet with Poland's President Andrzej Duda and attend a remembrance ceremony together when they visit Warsaw on Wednesday, according to a statement by the Polish President's Office.
The Warsaw Ghetto, established in the autumn of 1940, was the largest of all the Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Europe during World War II. In the summer of 1942, a quarter of a million of its residents were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
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.
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. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell
Some surviving Jewish combatants later fought in the Warsaw Uprising, launched by Poland's underground Home Army (AK) on August 1, 1944.
The Polish president in December 2018 paid tribute to the last surviving Warsaw ghetto fighter who died in Israel at the age of 94.
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Source: IAR, PAP, jpost.com
