August 1: 75 years ago the Warsaw Uprising broke out
75 years ago, the Warsaw Uprising broke out. For 63 days, the Polish insurgents conducted a heroic and lonely fight with the German army, the aim of which was independent Poland. The Warsaw Uprising was the biggest armed action of the underground in Nazi-occupied Europe. About 18,000 insurgents and 150,000-200,000 civilians died. The insurgents were accompanied by 150 priests, 40 of whom died or were murdered.
In the homily of the Eucharist for the Homeland on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, Bishop Józef Guzdek, Field Bishop of the Polish Army, reminded that the chaplains of the Uprising celebrated Masses, served in field hospitals, celebrated 256 weddings, confessed, and in the face of death gave collective absolution.
“It is worth noting that many of our countrymen, these deepest motivations for sacrifice drew from the Gospel. Whenever during the Eucharist they stood at the altar of Christ, they felt called and motivated to lay down their health and life on the altar of the Fatherland” – said Bishop Guzdek.
The Eucharist was concelebrated by i.a. Archbishop Wojciech Polak, Primate of Poland, Bishop Romuald Kamiński, Bishop of Warszawa-Praga. In the Holy Mass participated i.a. President of Poland Andrzej Duda, President of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, Speaker of the Senate Stanisław Karczewski.
„Thanks to the generation that shed blood on the streets of Warsaw, thanks to their courage, heroism and determination, a free Poland exists” - said President Andrzej Duda during the meeting with insurgents on the eve of the anniversary.
Every year Warsaw stops in a moment of silence on August 1. As air-ride sirens go off at 5 pm, the capital of Poland commemorates the anniversary of the beginning of the Warsaw Uprising.
Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
