At the Palace of Westminster in London, the seat of the British Parliament, on Monday evening, Karol NAWROCKI, president of the Institute of National Remembrance, opened an exhibition prepared by the Institute of National Remembrance as part of the “Trails of Hope” project. “Odyssey of Freedom”.
“Trails of Hope. “Odyssey of Freedom”
.The “Trails of Hope” project. “Odyssey of Freedom” aims to commemorate the military effort of the Polish Armed Forces during World War II and the fate of the civilian population evacuated from the Soviet Union together with the army of General Władysław Anders. Exhibitions under this project are presented from 2022 to 2025 in over 50 countries around the world, but each of them presents a different version, focusing on people, places and events related to a given country.
The “Trails of Hope” project. “Odyssey of Freedom” is a worthy commemoration of the fate of hundreds of thousands of Poles fighting for the independence of Poland and other countries occupied by the Third Reich. With their actions, they not only made a real contribution to defeating Nazi Germany, but also proved to the whole world that they were ready to fight for freedom despite the extremely unfavorable military and political situation.
Exhibition of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance in the Palace of Westminster
.The London version of the exhibition presents, among others: the fate of the ORP Błyskawica ship, General Stanisław Sosabowski, Łucja “Luna” Golińska, who was deported to Siberia during the war and then to Great Britain via Iran and Tanganyika, and Auberon Herbert, a British aristocrat and officer of the Polish Armed Forces.
“We never forget that Poland was a reliable ally and Poles were steadfast friends of Great Britain during the war years. The name of this exhibition, “Trails of Hope”, is very appropriate. In Clydebank we still remember these heroic deeds of Poles. This is commemorated on the main road, reminding them of their solidarity. This reminds us that history teaches us that solidarity can be as strong today as it was during the war. So we pay tribute to Polish citizens who have done so much for us, who have kept hope in their hearts and made freedom a commitment,” said Lord McFall in his speech, who in the past represented as an MP the Scottish town of Clydebank, in whose defense the ORP ship participated in the defense against German air raids. Lightning.
Kudos to Poland, kudos to Poles
During the ceremony, Karol NAWROCKI, the president of the Institute of National Remembrance, presented the awards to the Ambassador of Polish History. The award is intended for people and organizations from outside Poland that are particularly meritorious in commemorating the history of Poland and supporting the Institute of National Remembrance in the implementation of its statutory activities in the educational and scientific field. The winners of the award were: Iwona Golińska, president of the Polish Sue Association in Great Britain, and George Byczyński, editor-in-chief of the Polish portal in Great Britain, British Poles.
Trails of Polish hope
“The Second World War scattered Poles across several continents. Soldiers and civilians traveled hundreds of kilometers in the Soviet Union, the Middle East, and Western Europe. They went with the hope that they would return to a free country,” writes Karol NAWROCKI, president of the Institute of National Remembrance, in a text published in “wszystkie most important” [LINK].
“We must ensure that the heroic effort is known to future generations. This is the purpose of the “Trails of Hope” project. “Odyssey of Freedom” produced by Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) – Polish state institution dealing with modern history. The gigantic undertaking, scheduled for 2022–2025, will cover dozens of countries on several continents. The exhibition will reach everywhere and, in various languages and versions adapted to the local audience, will present visitors with the efforts of the Polish Armed Forces during World War II and the fate of the Polish civilian population moving around the world at that time. We are also planning numerous accompanying events: concerts, competitions, scientific conferences, etc.
Important elements of the project will also be the search for evidence of Poles’ wartime wandering – photographs, documents, accounts – and the restoration of forgotten places of memory: plaques, monuments and cemeteries scattered around the world. The Institute of National Remembrance strongly counts on the support of local communities. Because Polish soldiers and civilians who traveled hundreds of kilometers during the war wrote not only their own history, but also the history of the places they visited.
PAP/Bartłomiej Niedziński/AJ
Copyrighted material. Further distribution only with the consent of the publisher. October 8, 2024
