2023 declared The Year of The Warsaw Ghetto Heroes
On November 29, 2022, at the 54th Senate meeting, the Senate of the Republic of Poland has adopted the resolution to designate the year of 2023 as the Year of Remembrance of the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes.
The idea to declare next year the Year of the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes was originally proposed by the Warsaw Ghetto Museum. The initiative was supported by senators who passed the project of the resolution to the Senate. The resolution was adopted unanimously.
Tomasz Grodzki, the Marshal of the Senate, passed the resolution to Yacov Livne, the Ambassador of Israel to Poland, and Albert Stankowski, the Warsaw Ghetto Museum Director.
April 2023 marks the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising which was the biggest armed act of Jewish resistance during WWII and the first uprising that occurred in a city in occupied Europe.
“The fighters did not hope to win. They were driven by desire to retaliate against the Germans and to cause the highest losses to the enemy. They chose to die with weapons in their hands… By designating the year 2023, the year of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as the Year of Remembrance of the Warsaw Ghetto Fighters, the Senate of the Republic of Poland pays debt to the fallen and the survivors who protested the criminal plans of the extermination of the Jewish people till the end of their days,” the text of the resolution says.
“In the name of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum team, (…) I would like to thank the Senate wholeheartedly for the favorable reception of our proposition. This is a great possibility to show that the heroes are not only those who fought with weapons in their hands,” Mr. Stankowski said after the resolution was adopted.
“There were tens of thousands of Jews who were active in their resistance behind the ghetto walls. […] This phenomenon of civil resistance on a huge scale is still not known well enough. The heroic posture of the women imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto, the important role of the children who often took care of their whole families and helped their parents to survive, are not yet discussed loudly enough. We hope that the adoption of the resolution based on the WGM initiative will help to make these extremely important subjects an important part of public awareness in our country,” he continued.
During the anniversary year, Warsaw Ghetto Museum plans to organize different events, such as concerts, exhibitions, webinars and master classes for young people.