During the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino, President Andrzej Duda appealed to draw lessons from history. – It doesn't matter what Russia is in a given coin: tsarist, Soviet or Putin's. Russian imperialism is always the same: criminal, cruel and ruthless, he said.
The Presidential Couple among the heroes from Monte Cassino, photo: KPRP
The ceremony at the Polish War Cemetery, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino fought by the 2nd Polish Corps under the command of General Władysław Anders was attended by the President of the Republic of Poland and his wife, as well as the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.
The celebrations began with a field mass in Polish. After the service, prayers were recited by clergy of other denominations.
– In those days that we remember today, on the night of May 17-18, 1944 and during the next two days, the famous song "Red Poppies" was composed about the Battle of Monte Cassino and the heroism of Polish soldiers - said Andrzej Duda during his speech. He referred to the lyrics of the song, recalling that there is a fragment in it: "madmen fell through the fire." – Many of them got hit and died, like those from Racławice years ago. They did the same, blocking the cannons with their helmets and bodies, said the President.
From this place, fallen soldiers cry out to Europe for responsibility. They are calling: never again war, don't let it happen, help the Ukrainians stop the Russians, don't let Russian imperialism spread to other European countries, he stressed.
The president said that many people forgot that immediately after Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Poland was invaded by Soviet Russia. – As an ally of Germany, it tore Poland into two parts and it was from this Soviet occupation that the soldiers who died here came – he pointed out.
Movie source - KPRP
– They came from Soviet labor camps, from exile, from distant Siberia, from Kazakhstan, where they spent years doing slave, backbreaking work, from which they managed to escape thanks to an agreement with the Western Allies, because a soldier was needed at the front, and many of them had previously been soldiers of the Polish army - said Andrzej Duda.
He pointed out that many soldiers were unable to return home. – Even though they bled on the fronts of World War II, even though they won at Monte Casino, their heroism was ignored by the allies. They did not take part in the victory parade, they were pushed away, and Poland was handed over to the Soviets and was behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years, he noted.
I believe that today's Europe has learned that lesson and will no longer allow Russian imperialism to take over countries and enslave people, as it happened in the past, he emphasized.
The president appealed to draw lessons from history. – It doesn't matter what Russia is in a given coin – tsarist, Soviet or Putin's, Russian imperialism is always the same: criminal, cruel and ruthless – he said.
– Russian mir is not any Russian culture, it is brutal rule over other people, subjugating other nations, sucking their blood, kidnapping their children to the East. This is Russification, brutal force used against other nations, which has nothing to do with contemporary standards of democratic countries, he emphasized.
source - KPRP
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