In a solemn ceremony yesterday, the Polish Minister of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak and the Archbishop of Warsaw, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, commemorated the victims of mass executions in the Kampinos Forest near Palmiry during WWII.
More than 2,000 Polish citizens, mainly Jewish and Polish intelligentsia were executed by German occupying forces between December 1939 and July 1941. Those buried in Palmiry include artists, teachers, athletes, and political and literary figures, including Jan Wajzer, the secretary general of the Polish Union of what was then the Free City of Danzig, Olympic gold medalist Janusz Kusociński, actress Helena Łopuszańska and painter Maria Witkowska, along with literary figures like Witold Hulewicz, the writer and editor of the first underground magazine, “Polska Żyje.”
In comments read by Błaszczak during the ceremony, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described Palmiry as “a blow to the heart of our nation” in which Poland “lost the most outstanding representatives of the leadership and intellectual elite of Warsaw.”
His words were echoed in a letter from Polish President Andrzej Duda, who emphasized a duty to not only remember the victims, but the perpetrators as well, as „this awareness…serves as a warning for present and future generations.”
Source: PAP
https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C511446%2Curoczystosci-na-cmentarzu-ofiar-hitlerowskich-egzekucji-w-palmirach.html
Secret diary of Polish “Anne Frank” to be published in English this week
After being locked away in a bank vault for 70 years, the translated diary of Renata Spiegel, a Jewish teenager murdered by Nazis in 1942 in Poland, is set to be published in English this week.
Dubbed “the Polish Anne Frank” Renia’s diary is a juxtaposition of the life and dreams of a normal teenager – her desire to be a poet, falling in love with a boy, and her first kiss – and the nightmarish reality of bombing raids, being forced into hiding in the Jewish ghetto, and the disappearance of other Jewish families in Przemyśl.
While her mother and sister Elizabeth survived, Renia did not. After escaping from the ghetto and hiding in an attic, she was discovered and subsequently shot by German soldiers in July of 1942 at the age of 18. Her boyfriend, Zygmunt Schwarzer, was able to keep the dairy safe despite being deported to Auschwitz, and returned it to Renia’s family after they emigrated to the United States. It was later translated at the urging of Renata’s niece, Alexandra Bellak, who wanted to know more about her aunt.
The book, entitled Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust, will be available in the UK and the US on September 19th.
Source: BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49646797
Polish cyclist set to make history during the final leg of the Vuelta de Espana
Polish cyclist Rafał Majka is set to make history by finishing a second Grand Tour race in the top ten as he enters the final stage of the 74th annual Vuelta de España today.
Along with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta de España makes up the three Grand Tours of cycling, a series of prestigious and grueling three-week-long staged cycling competitions around Europe. The Vuelta de Espana consists of 21 stages spread over 23 days, with the final stage finishing in a flat sprint to Madrid.
After finishing third in stage 20 yesterday, chances are good that the 30-year-old cyclist will finish the Vuelta in sixth place, making him and former champion cyclist Zenon Jaskuła the only Poles to ever finish two Grand Tours in the top ten.
Source: PAP, sport.pl
https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C511422%2Cvuelta-espana-wspaniale-zwyciestwo-pogacara-majka-trzeci.html
http://www.sport.pl/kolarstwo/7,64993,25192628,swietny-etap-rafala-majki-polak-na-podium-i-blisko-historycznego.html
Lechia Gdańsk celebrates first win at home this season
Fans of Lechia Gdańsk had a chance to celebrate last night as their team defeated Lech Poznań 2:1 to mark the first time Lechia has won at home this season.
Lechia started out strong in the first half with a header goal by Sławomir Peszko followed by another goal by defender Michał Nalepa.. Despite some serious attempts by the Kolejorz to even the score, including an elegant shot by Pedro Tiba in the second half, goalkeeper Dušan Kuciak kept the score in Lechia’s favor to finish out the match in extra minutes.
The victory bumps Lechia Gdańsk into sixth place in the Ekstraklasa league between neighbors Wisła Krakow in 7th and Cracovia in 5th. Lechia will attempt to repeat this feat next Saturday at 5:30pm when they face off against 14th-ranked Korona Kielce at PGE Arena.
RGEN NEWS/EP
