Poland in the Council of Europe

The presentation of the exhibition “Fighting and suffering. Polish Citizens during World War II“, created in cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland and the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, will run in Strasbourg from 16 to 20 September 2019. It serves to present in a comprehensive manner the history and fate of Poland and its inhabitants during the war. The exhibition is multifaceted, it illustrates Poland's political situation in the international arena, role of the Polish Underground State, actions of the Home Army and Polish troops fighting on all fronts against Germany, as well as the fate of the civilian population, tragedy of the Holocaust, terror of the German and Soviet occupation, repressions, extermination, human and material losses.

This exhibition is being presented by numerous diplomatic and consular mission of Poland around the world, to accompany the commemorations the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.

The inauguration of the exhibition “Fighting and suffering. Polish Citizens during World War II“, on September 16, at the Council of Europe, was attended by the Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly, Wojciech Sawicki, the Permanent Representatives and diplomatic corps accredited to the Council of Europe.

Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, Janusz Stańczyk when presenting the exhibition, stressed the importance of remembrance and historical truth in educating young generations and as a basis for reconciliation. He also referred to the observance ceremony held in Warsaw, on September 1, with the participation of the President of the Republic of Poland A. Duda, the President of Germany, the Vice President of the USA and 40 other heads of states and governments, quoting President A. Duda that not enough conclusions were drawn from the experience of war, as well as the President of Germany stating that the attack on Poland and initiating the WWII were German sins.

Presenting briefly the fate of Poland after the invasion of the Third Reich and the USSR in 1939, Ambassador Stańczyk mentioned the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Katyn, German Nazi concentration camps, as well as the activities and resistance of the Polish government in exile and the Polish Underground State. Recalling the Holocaust, he reminded the efforts of the Polish authorities in exile to prevent it, the missions of W. Pilecki and J. Karski, as well as the Righteous Among the Nations. Ambassador Stańczyk, paying homage and remembering the victims, recalled the scale of human and material losses suffered by Poland as a result of the war. Speaking about contemporary Poland, an active member of the international community, he expressed hope and conviction that the Council of Europe, while guarding democracy, human rights and the rule of law, will continue its mission to prevent that such conflict would ever happen again in Europe.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe T. Jagland, in his speech at the inauguration, said that the history of Poland and its inhabitants during WWII was tragic. Poland was a victim of two totalitarian ideologies, while human and material losses reached an unprecedented scale in Europe. He also referred to his personal memories and feelings related to the Cold War period and the division of Europe. Finally, with great enthusiasm and admiration, Secretary General  T. Jagland, referred to the contemporary history of Poland, the period of democratic changes, Solidarity movement and current economic success of Poland, which make of Poland a unique example of success and a positive development in Europe.