Several hundred motorcyclists set out from Wejherowo to Piaśnicki Forest yesterday as part of an annual motorcycle rally commemorating victims of the atrocities there.

According to historians, some 12,000-14,000 people died in Piaśnica between October 1939 and April 1940, mainly members of the Polish intelligentsia from Pomerania, but also inmates from mental hospitals across the Third Reich. As the first large-scale Nazi attrocity in occupied Poland, the massacres are sometimes referred to as the „Pomeranian Katyń” despite their connection to Nazi Germany, rather than the Soviet Union.

According to event organizer Marcin Drewa, the unusual format of a motorcycle rally was a way “to talk about this gruesome story in different ways” and to “reach people who would never go to Piaśnica.” At the end of the rally, a mass was held at Piaśnica cemetery for the victims of the massacres.

Boże Ciało selected as the Polish contender for the Oscars this year

The award-winning film Boże Ciało by Jan Komasa will be Poland’s official candidate in the category of Best International Feature Film at the US Academy Awards this year.

The film, which premiered to glowing reviews at the Venice Film Festival two weeks ago, is centered around a 20-year-old boy who undergoes a religious transformation while at a youth correctional center and subsequently decides to impersonate a priest. Due to his charm and charisma, he ends up unintentionally taking over a local parish and becomes a driving force in the local community.

In their nomination, Poland’s Oscar committee described the film as “a universal, moving and provocative story about the spiritual transformation of man, and a new look at faith in God.”

The film is set to premier in Poland October 11th, however, residents of Trójmiasto can watch the film beginning on Wednesday this week as part of the 44th annual Polish Film Festival taking place in Gdynia.

For more information, check out the festival website at www.festiwalgdynia.pl

Source: PAP

Polish cyclist Rafał Majka made history yesterday by finishing sixth in the 74th annual Vuelta a Espana, joining Zenon Jaskuła as the only Poles to ever finish two Grand Tours in the top ten in the same year.

Also making history was the winner of the race, 29-year-old Primož Roglič, who is the first Slovenian rider to ever win one of cycling’s three Grand Tours.

He was followed by, 39-year-old Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde, one of the oldest riders in the race, and fellow Slovene Tadej Pogačar, who was making his first Grand Tour debut at age 20.

This is Majka’s second time finishing on the podium at La Vuelta, and his 16th appearance in a Grand Tour race.

Source: PAP, cyclingweekly.com

The Polish men’s volleyball team defeated the Dutch last night 3:0 in their second win of the 31st annual Men’s European Volleyball Championship.

For the first time this year, the “EuroVolley” tournament was expanded to include 24 national teams and is being held across four countries: Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Slovenia.

The Poles defeated Estonia in their first match of the EuroVolley last Friday, and hope to continue their winning streak at 8pm tonight against Czechia and again tomorrow at 5pm against Montenegro.

Source: PAP

The fourth annual Gdańsk Democracy Week kicks off today with a debate at the European Solidarity Center among several prominent journalists

Inspired by the words of Swiss writer Max Frisch that „democracy means to interfere in one’s own affairs,” tonight’s debate will focus on the role of large institutions in the preservation of law and order. Invited guests include journalists Katarzyna Włodkowska, Szymon Jadczak, Bertold Kittel, Tomasz Piątek and Wojciech Bojanowski

Throughout the week, meetings, debates, conversations, youth workshops and film screenings will take place around the city, including at the Solidarity Center, Stocznia, the Shakespeare Theatre, Oliwa Ratusz Kultury, and the Manhattan library in Wrzeszcz.

Tomorrow night will feature a lecture by German-American political scientist Professor Yascha Mounk of Harvard University entitled “People versus democracy: Why is our freedom in danger and how to save it?”

Both events kick off at 6pm and admission is free; events will run from today until next Sunday. For more information, visit the City of Gdańsk website at: www.gdansk.pl/wiadomosci/gdanski-tydzien-demokracji-debaty-wyklady-warsztaty-juz-po-raz-czwarty,a,154072

RGEN NEWS/EP