In Warsaw, Kraków, and across Poland at W Hour – 5pm, sirens sounded, as people stood silently to remember the courage and sacrifice of those who took part in the Warsaw Uprising on 1st August 1944.
In Kraków, people gathered on the Rynek, as the bells of the Mariacki struck at 5pm, flares were lit, sirens sounded for a minute, following which people sang the national anthem. A second siren, with a different, continuous tone, sounded 10 minutes later.
The Polish military, members of the Home Army (Armii Krajowej) association, and dignitaries, who had been attending a mass in St Mary’s Basilica, then took part in a parade along Florianska, to Plac Matejki, where a ceremony and wreath laying took place at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
This video shows the commemorations in Krakow, on 1st August 2017, the 73rd anniversary of the uprising.
APOLOGIES FOR THE QUALITY – THIS VIDEO WAS SHOT ENTIRELY ON AN IPHONE – I wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible in recognition of and in respect of the occasion. (The Rynek ‘siren’ segment was filmed live on FB then subsequently downloaded, suffering from FB’s notorious video compression).
To find out more about the Warsaw Uprising, either visit the Warsaw Rising Museum in Warsaw, or get hold of a copy of the book Rising ’44 – The battle for Warsaw, by acclaimed historian Norman Davies, available in English, Polish(“Powstanie ’44”) and other languages.
