Celebration of National Day of Memory of National Army Soldiers at the AK Museum in Krakow

There were besides 4 AK veterans: Krystyna Dąbrowska ps. “Wyż”, soldier of the Inspectorate “Maria”, Hanna Zawitowska-Nowińska, associate of the Warsaw Uprising; Jan Lohmann ps. “Felix”, soldier of the Świętokrzyskie branches of the AK and Jerzy Niebudek ps. “Miroki”, soldier of the Polesic branches of the AK.

The guests were welcomed by MAK manager Dr. Jarosław Szarek, who stressed that the National Army after years of postponing and pushing into oblivion during the communist period won its last battle. The evidence of this is simply a celebration of the festival, hundreds of monuments and streets dedicated to it in Polish towns, thousands of publications, as well as the Museum of Krakow which cultivates its memory. He besides recalled that during the period of the Polish People's Republic, the arks participated in all social breaks against imposed power, ranging from armed opposition right after the war to ending with the election on 4 June 1989.

The participants saw the specially recorded messages of the arks shown on the large screen: the president of the Management Board of the planet Union of Soldiers of the AK Captain Janusz Komorowski ps. “Antek” and participants of the Warsaw Uprising Anna Duszkiewicz ps. “Jadwig” from Krakow. A speech by Justin Maciejewski, manager of the National Army Museum in London, erstwhile Brigadier General of the British Army and boy of the Warsaw insurgent was besides played. Justin Maciejewski visited Krakow on Thursday and Friday at the invitation of MAK.

The main point of the ceremony was the presentation of the prizes established this year by the MAK “Deserved for Memory of the Home Army”. They received them: the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Burgos, Spain Enrique de Villamor y Solaruce (for organising educational trips of Spanish youth to Poland and the AK Museum), rapper Tadeusz Polkowski (for musical promotion of the past of the AK), musician, leader of the De Press squad Andrzej Dziubek (for promoting the AK and soldiers of the independency underground, especially the album “We Rebels”), Kombatant activists from Kraków Małgorzata and Jacek Janców (for organizing and sustaining the Kombatant movement), past teacher from Skawina Piotr Kazan (for promoting the newest past of our country among students), and author of books Wojciech Königsberg (for popularizing the character Jan Piwnik “Ponury” and the past of the AK). The award was besides awarded to young generation actor Maciej Musił, who was active in commemorating the Warsaw Uprising. The laureate could not come to the Museum due to the fact that he participated in the celebrations of the festival in Warsaw.

The awards were presented by MAK manager Jarosław Szarek and Deputy Marshal of Małopolskie Voivodeship Ryszard Pagacz. Statues in the form of an eagle from the flaghead of the Polish Army were designed by Kraków sculptor Wincenta Chlipał.

The ceremony besides presented the badges “In the footsteps of the National Army in Małopolska” awarded for passing six field trails related to the AK in various parts of our region. The performance was given by the fresh Sącz Border defender Representation Orchestra, performing military, patriotic and popular works.
In the second part of the ceremony, a gift was presented, as it late received the AK Museum, including souvenirs from Colonel Francisz Studzinski, the commandant of the Tarnopol AK District. The donations were presented by the donors Katarzyna Kulagowska-Silva and Zbigniew Kulagowski from Koszalina, family-related to Colonel Studzinski.

The guests besides listened to short lectures. Deputy manager of MAK Prof. Olgierd Grott spoke about the National Army Soldiers created at the Museum, historian Prof. Andrzej Chwalba presented the figure of rtm. Witold Pilecki, translator of English and author of historical books Wojtek Matusiak introduced the subject of problems in the translation of terms related to the Polish underground, and Krystyna Waszkiewicz presented the character of her grandmother, Stanisława Piekarska ps. “Celina”, whose war memories were just published by the Academic Bookstore and the AK Museum.

At the end of the ceremony, the Association of Polish Christian Democracy and the Malopolska territory of the planet Association of AK Soldiers presented their awards.

The following day, on Sunday, February 15, the Museum held Open Day combined with a convention of reconstruction groups. 8 reconstruction groups from various parts of Małopolska (including Tarnow, Olkusz, Bielska-Biala and Nowy Sącz) were located in the museum courtyard. many arrivals allowed the audience to watch weapons, uniforms and equipment, participate in the museum game and sing Akowski songs together. The Krakow collector Przemysław Kosek gave a lecture on the weapons utilized by the AK from the Museum collections. Military peas were prepared for visitors. On Open Day, over 300 people visited the MAK.