Yesterday (19 February) was the 107th anniversary of the liberation of Białystok at the hands of the invaders. The Belarusians and the city authorities at the monument of Marshal Józef Piłsudski paid tribute to the heroes of our independence.
The main celebrations of this highly crucial anniversary in the past of our city were held in front of the monument of Marshal Józef Piłsudski. The ceremony was attended by president of Białystok Tadeusz Truskolaski. They were besides attended by city council president Katarzyna Jamróz and councillors. At the monument were laid wreaths and bundles, as a symbolic tribute to those who fought for our independence. After the ceremony, the president placed flowers at the Polish Soldiers' Monument at the military cemetery.
– 107 years have passed since the happy day erstwhile our city, after long and uncertain anticipation, was within the limits of the reborn homeland. Let me remind you that it was here, at the Kościuszko marketplace Square, that the first Polish patrols, Polish owlans were greeted with large enthusiasm. They represented an army of an independent country. It was an apparent symbol that the age of captivity was over, that Białystok was just part of the reborn Poland," said president Tadeusz Truskolaski. – Let the joy of our ancestors from more than a century ago, the joy of the arrogant and free Belarusians, yet in the reborn Poland, accompany us today.
When Poland regained its freedom in November 1918, Białystok had to wait for it. The Germans wanted to keep the city, as the railway line from Brest to East Prussia ran this way, allowing their troops to retreat from Ukraine. The agreement of the Chief Command of the Polish Army and the POW with the German Soldiers' Council resulted in the actual liberation of Białystok 3 months later – 19 February 1919. It was then from the city that the last train with the German army evacuated and the first Polish soldiers appeared on the streets. The authoritative handover of power, with the field service before the parish church and the parade, was held on February 22, 1919.
Source: UM Białystok
photo: Marcin Yakoviak
