President Of Poland: The Warsaw Ghetto Fighters Are Jewish And Polish Heroes

A special ceremony dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising took place in Warsaw.

"The Jewish fighters who opposed the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 are heroes of both the Jewish and Polish people," Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a special ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The uprising lasted from April 19 to May 16. The Detaly news publisher reported.

Dozens of Holocaust survivors and high-ranking officials, including the presidents of Israel, Poland and Germany, came to the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes to observe a moment of silence to the sound of sirens in memory of the Jewish people who died in the uprising.

“We bow our heads to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. To those who fought hatred and Nazism for their freedom and dignity,” President Duda said, paying tribute to the heroes.

The Polish President emphasized that they are symbols of courage, determination and bravery for the whole country, adding that they showed "the will to fight for their freedom, the will to make decisions about their destiny".

President Duda expressed his belief that their bravery contributed to the final victory over the Nazis against all the obstacles.

“They are our common heroes. They are the heroes of Israel. They are the heroes of the Jewish people all over the world. They are heroes of Poland and Poles, many of whom participated in the Warsaw Uprising,” Andrzej Duda said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the uprising was "a symbol of heroism in humanity's darkest hour".

“Here, in this place where we are standing now, a ghetto was located here. It was cramped, noisy, bustling with life,” he said. "Nearby was the 'Collection Point', or Umschlagplatz. It was there that the fate of 300,000 Polish Jews was decided: children, old people, women and men, who were deported to the Treblinka extermination camp.”

He recalled the words by Zivia Lubetkin. She was one of the uprising leaders. “It was clear to us that we had no chance of winning, in the usual sense of the word. But we knew that we would emerge victorious in the end. We are weak but our strength was this: we believed in justice. We believed in humanity."

The Israeli President thanked Duda for his efforts to preserve and perpetuate the memory of the Jewish people who died in the Holocaust, including for supporting the ceremony.

“We must remember that there is nothing postmodern or relativistic about the memory of the Holocaust. Absolute evil existed, in the form of the Nazis and their accomplices. And absolute goodness existed in the form of victims and rebels from every nation. And when passing on this heritage to posterity, it must reflect this undeniable axiom: no 'ifs', no 'buts'," Isaac Herzog said.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier took part in the ceremony for the first time.

“The terrible crimes committed by the Germans here fill me with shame, but also with gratitude and humility for the opportunity to participate in this event as the first head of the German state,” he said.

“We, Germans, have learned our lessons,” Walter-Steinmeier continued. “When we say ‘never again’, we mean that there will never be racism and persecution again, but there will also never be occupation and aggression in Europe. That's the reason for us, Poland and other allies to help Ukraine in the war against Vladimir Putin’s aggression.”

“I am convinced that our countries have become even closer to each other in recent months. Our friendship rests on a strong foundation,” President Steinmeier said.