Polish President Andrzej Duda joined his Lithuanian counterpart, Gitanas Nausėda, at a commemoration ceremony in the northern Polish village of Pszczelnik yesterday.

The two leaders met to commemorate the 90th anniversary of a plane crash that claimed the lives of two Lithuanian pilots, Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas. The pair crashed near Pszczelnik on July 17, 1933, after attempting a daring nonstop flight from New York. The tragedy brought together Lithuanians at home and abroad, and today Lithuanians abroad celebrate this date as World Lithuanian Unity Day.

In a speech at the gathering, Duda honored “the heroic Lithuanian pilots who were killed here 90 years ago, in the service to their homeland,” noting that despite “the tragic death of Lithuanian heroes, Lithuanian people all over the world” celebrate this day as “a day of Lithuanian unity.”

He then praised Polish-Lithuanian cooperation as a “priceless asset” amid current challenges and for the future, saying the two countries were “united as never before, especially in the face of the difficult times in which it fell to us to live and work.”

Referring to other aviation tragedies, including the 2010 Smolensk air disaster, Duda explained that “all these examples of patriotic sacrifice give us the inspiration to strengthen the sovereignty, security, and agency of our countries and nations.”

Source: Polskie Radio

History enthusiasts from across Europe and beyond flocked to Malbork over the weekend for an annual reenactment of the 1410 Battle of Grunwald, one of the biggest battles of medieval Europe.

As reported by Radio Olsztyn, some 1,200 reenactors wearing historical costumes staged the famous battle in the Fields of Grunwald for the 25th time.

Saturday’s reenactment, which attracted around 25,000 spectators, featured actors on foot and horseback, sporting heavy armor and playing the parts of knights, squires, and archers on both sides.
History enthusiasts from other countries, including the United States and Ukraine, took part in this year’s event alongside Polish reenactors, according to the newspaper Rzeczpospolita.

It has been 613 years since allied Polish and Lithuanian forces crushed the Knights of the Teutonic Order in what is considered to be one of the most glorious and significant military victories in Polish history.

Source: Polskie Radio

Thousands of participants are expected to visit the village of Sianowo this week as part of a weeklong pilgrimage and festival at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sianowska, the “Queen of Kashubia.”

Some 20,000 participants are expected at the annual church event, which began on Saturday with a pilgrimage of the sick and suffering and will end next Saturday, July 24.

The Sianowski festival and pilgrimage is one of the largest and most important in Pomerania, and the town itself has been an important center of Marian worship for centuries. The church’s 15th-century wooden sculpture of the Madonna was crowned “Queen of Kashubia” in 1966 under a decree by Pope Paul VI, and the town itself was designated as an essential place for Kashubian worship in 1987 by Pope John Paul II.

The church in Sianowo is located on one of the historic Camino de Santiago or “Way of St. James” pilgrimage routes in Poland, leading from Królewiec (Kaliningrad) to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Polish track-and-field athletes had a good showing at the 2023 Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Meet yesterday at the Silesian Stadium in the southern city of Chorzów.

Polish sprinter Natalia Kaczmarek earned one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon after she won the women’s 400m in 49.48, her best-ever result, according to Polsat News.

Meanwhile, Poland’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki won the hammer throw event with a best effort of 80.02m, while five-time hammer throw world champion Paweł Fajdek finished fifth with a best effort of 73.93m.

Polish sprinter Ewa Swoboda finished third in the women’s 100m, with her personal best ever of 10.94 seconds, qualifying her for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
She will be joined at the Games by fellow Polish sprinter Pia Skrzyszowska, who also qualified after coming in eighth in the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 12.67 seconds.

Source: Polskie Radio

Weather

Today will be mostly sunny with a slight chance of rain showers midday and again overnight, accompanied by shifting winds from the west and north. Temperatures will be similar to yesterday, with a daytime high of 26°C or 79°F, dropping to a low of 15°C or 59°F overnight. Tomorrow will see a break in the ongoing heat wave, with temperatures set to drop down to the low to mid-20s Celsius or low-70s Fahrenheit.

Elizabeth Peck/pb