Fighters of the Warsaw Uprising - in the mould of earlier generations - fought because they wanted freedom, Polish President Andrzej Duda stressed on Tuesday during a ceremonial Roll-Call of the Fallen a day before the 74th anniversary of the uprising's outbreak.
"Warsaw and Poland showed that they endure, that the underground state that they organised in 1939 was effective; Poles were ready to again have their own country. Maybe that is why the Soviets were so afraid of it, and the communist traitors who accompanied them," Duda said during a ceremony at the Warsaw Uprising Monument in the Polish capital.
"The city, the capital, Warsaw, was free during 63 days of that great, and at the same time terrifying, August and September," the president observed.
"Somebody asks: what for, why did the insurgents fight? They wanted freedom. But why did they want freedom? They wanted freedom because that's how it was... Because that's how it had been for generations, because their fathers fought for freedom, they stood to fight, they won and Poland became independent," Duda stated.
He underscored that thanks to the sacrifice of previous generations, Poles have regained 100 years of independence.
"That is why we have a free Poland, as there have always been people in our nation who believed that their will is stronger than the will of the enemy (...). And that's why it was worth taking part in the Warsaw Uprising, and why it was worth fighting for freedom, and why it was worth doing everything to throw off the German yoke," said the President.
The ceremony at the capital's Krasińskich Square was among the events marking the 74th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. Apart from the president, it was attended by representatives of the government and parliament, local authorities, veterans' organisations and city residents.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, PAP