Poland in the UK

The remains of Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski and Stanisław Ostrowski, which are buried in Newark Cemetery, are returning to their homeland as part of an initiative to establish a mausoleum of the Polish presidents-in-exile in Warsaw.

The three were among six Polish presidents who led the exiled governments during and after the Second World War when Poland was invaded and subsequently occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

The ceremonies began with a wreath-laying in the cemetery followed by a memorial mass at the St Mary Magdalene Church and an event at Newark Town Hall before the bodies of the presidents departed for Poland.

Among those attending were George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews, Sir John Peace, Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps Alistair Harrison, Andrzej Dera, Secretary of State at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, Polish Ambassador in London Piotr Wilczek, Antoni Macierewicz, Senior Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Jarosław Stolarczyk, Deputy Head of the Chancellery of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Jan Dziedziczak, the Polish Government’s Plenipotentiary for Poles Abroad, Arkady Rzegocki, Head of the Polish Foreign Service, Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford, Maj Gen Cezary Wiśniewski, Deputy General Commander of the Polish Armed Forces, Wojciech Labuda, the Polish Prime Minister’s Plenipotentiary for Memorial Site Protection, Jan Kasprzyk, President of the Polish Office for Veterans and Victims of Oppression, Karol Polejowski, Deputy President of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire Paul Southby, Polish and British MPs, Newark Town Mayor Cllr Laurence Goff, families of Polish presidents-in-exile, and the last surviving member of the Polish government-in-exile, Tadeusz Musioł.

The presidents will rest in the Polish capital’s Temple of Divine Providence, which houses the remains of some of the greatest Poles in history and is a national and religious symbol for Poland. The mausoleum will also host the remains of Poland’s last president-in-exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, who is already buried in the temple’s Pantheon of Great Poles, and next to them will be the symbolic graves of the two other presidents-in-exile: Kazimierz Sabbat, who is buried in London’s Gunnersbury Cemetery, and Edward Raczyński, who rests in the family mausoleum in Rogalin, western Poland.

Alongside the mausoleum, a chamber dedicated to the presidents-in-exile will be established.

The burial will be preceded by funeral ceremonies on 12 November featuring the highest state representatives of Poland.

The "Mission: Free Poland" educational and informational project is an initiative of the "Aid to Poles in the East" Foundation, the Polish prime minister’s office, Poland’s foreign and defence ministries, the Institute of National Remembrance, and the Temple of Divine Providence. It has the patronage of Poland’s president Andrzej Duda and is organised as part of the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining independence, which was in 2018. Newark Town Council is assisting in the process of exhumation and repatriation.

Writing in a letter read out by Andrzej Dera during the ceremony at Newark Town Hall, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said: “Three outstanding politicians who held the office of the President of the Republic of Poland in Exile – Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski and Stanisław Ostrowski – are today returning to their native land. We are accompanying them from the Polish Fallen Airmen’s Cemetery in Newark. At this special time of celebration of the centenary of Poland’s regaining of independence, we will lay to rest the ashes of our Presidents in the Mausoleum established especially for them in the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw. It is with sentiment and gratitude that we will welcome them in their independent Homeland.”

Speaking about the initiative, Ambassador Wilczek said: “Presidents Raczkiewicz, Zaleski and Ostrowski fought incredibly hard for a free Poland, yet none lived to see it become free. Today’s ceremonies, then, and those taking place in Warsaw next week are an apt last chapter in their magnificent lives. This chapter will finally see them rest in their homeland, in a specially-created mausoleum in the Polish capital’s Temple of Divine Providence – home to the remains of some of the greatest Poles in history.”

Speaking ahead of the ceremonies, the Mayor of Newark added: “As Mayor of Newark, I am especially proud of Newark’s strong connections with Poland. It will be a real honour and privilege to be representing Newark throughout the various events planned to mark the repatriation of these 3 presidents in exile. The Polish war graves area of Newark cemetery is immaculately maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and every effort is made to ensure the final resting places of a large number of Polish servicemen are looked after in testament and tribute to them. On behalf of Newark, I extend my very warmest regards to the people of Poland as they mark the return of the 3 Presidents to their homeland. I also look forward to continuing to celebrate Newark’s respect and appreciation for our Polish links as we plan for the creation and installation of a statue of General Sikorski in Newark Cemetery which is expected to be officially unveiled next year.”

The Polish government-in-exile was the legitimate state representation of Poland from the authorities’ evacuation in 1939 until 1990. Reconstructed first in ‪Paris, and from 1940 residing in ‪‎London, it led the Polish ‪war effort throughout ‪the Second World War.

Following the war, its existence gave hope that Poland might one day topple the communist occupier and regain freedom. It represented the preservation of the Republic’s sovereignty and constitutional continuity. In 1990, president Kaczorowski handed over the presidential insignia to the first democratically elected president of post-war Poland – Lech Wałęsa.

Together with a 500,000-strong community of Polish exiles in all corners of the free world who could not return to ‪Poland after 1945, the government-in-exile recreated the Poland they knew from before the war, with all her political institutions, school system, and even cultural life. They created the Republic in Exile – Poland outside Poland.

The office of president was held by: Władysław Raczkiewicz (1939-1947), August Zaleski (1947-1972), Stanisław Ostrowski (1972-1979), Edward Raczyński (1979-1986), Kazimierz Sabbat (1986-1989), and Ryszard Kaczorowski (1989-1990).

Newark and Poland enjoy long-standing and much-celebrated relations.

The Polish War Graves Section of Newark Cemetery is the largest Polish plot of any cemetery in the UK. Commander-in-Chief and Prime Minister Gen Władysław Sikorski, who opened it in 1941 and was laid to rest there, was also exhumed and repatriated home. Meanwhile, a statue of Polish Righteous Among the Nations Irena Sendler, who saved hundreds of Jewish children during the war, stands in Newark's Fountain Gardens.

Polish Embassy UK Press Office / Newark and Sherwood District Council