The new contest was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Gliński in Warsaw on Friday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Entitled First to Help, the competition invites submissions in the form of written accounts, photographs and video recordings, according to officials.
Gliński said the contest was especially designed to help document memories and experiences of the immediate aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, when “millions of war refugees sought shelter in Poland.”
The deputy prime minister told a news conference: "At that point, our country passed the test of solidarity. All of us, from members of the public, local governments and NGOs, to faith-based groups, state agencies and public officials, helped people fleeing the war.”
Gliński, who also serves as culture minister, said that “Poland has never had any refugee camps.”
“Refugees were welcomed into our homes,” he added.
Documenting ‘a special moment of solidarity’ with Ukraine
Gliński stated: “Our aim is to memorialise and document that moment of solidarity when Polish people volunteered to help their neighbours from Ukraine.”
He said that the First to Help competition was open “to people of all ages,” living “in Poland or abroad,” who “have a recollection of that period or were directly involved in the support effort by helping war refugees at border reception points, railway stations or in some other way.”
Image: firsttohelp.pl
Entries for the First to Help contest can be submitted until September 18 via the competition’s official website, officials said.
A jury panel will then select the best writing, photography and video footage about Poland’s support for refugees from Ukraine, the PAP news agency reported.
Winners in each of the three categories will receive statuettes and cash prizes of PLN 10,000 (EUR 2,240) during a special awards ceremony in the autumn, the Polish government said.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Friday is day 478 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, gov.pl, firsttohelp.pl
