Poland in Australia

Ambassador Michal Kołodziejski presented Col. Skarbek with a letter of congratulations from the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda. He also handed over a letter from the Director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, Dr. Karol Nawrocki and passed on many heartfelt wishes and congratulations from Poland and around the world. The guest of honor addressed the gathered, including his family members and representatives of the Council of Polish Organizations in the ACT. He said, "I am a Pole and I have fulfilled, so I believe, all duties put on a citizen ...", and ended his speech with an optimistic "I had a feeling that first 100 years I would somehow get through. And then we'll see”.

Colonel Zdzisław Bernard Skarbek was born on 1 July 1921. After the outbreak of World War II, in February 1940, he and his family were deported to Siberia and sentenced to 10 years in Gulag forced-labor camp. Mr. Skarbek joined the Polish Armed Forces in the East in 1942. As a member of Polish II Corps he took part in the Italian campaign, including in the battles of Monte Cassino, Ancona, Loreto and Bologna. After the war, he settled in Great Britain and then in Australia. From 1956, Mr. Skarbek was active in the Polish Ex-Serviceman's Association Branch Australia. He is the highest ranking Polish army veteran in Australia and was awarded with 23 Polish and Australian medals. His autobiography entitled “Bernard Zdzisław Skarbek, a Polish patriot for life” was published in June 2021.