On the 75th anniversary of Captain Witold Pilecki’s death, the memory of this brave Pole was honoured by Andrzej Duda, the President of the Republic of Poland and the management of the Institute of National Remembrance

On the morning of 25 May 2023, President Andrzej Duda, together with Zofia Pilecka-Optułowicz (Witold Pilecki’s daughter) and Janusz Waledzik codenamed "Czarny", Captain Witold Pilecki's liaison officer during the Warsaw Uprising, paid tribute to the hero  by laying flowers at the “wall of death” in the former Mokotów Prison in Warsaw, where Pilecki was shot. The ceremony was attended by the President of the IPN, Karol Nawrocki Ph.D., and Deputy President Prof. Karol Polejowski.

The main event honouring the memory of Witold Pilecki began on the grounds of the Museum of Cursed Soldiers and Political Prisoners of the Polish People’s Republic in Warsaw. During the official part, the participants listened to commemorative speeches (one of them was delivered by Karol Nawrocki), an Appeal of Remembrance was read out and memories of the hero's life were recalled. President Andrzej Duda visited the reconstructed cell no. 37, where Witold Pilecki was once imprisoned.

The British historian, Professor Michael Foot, called Witold Pilecki one of the six bravest people in the world, fighting in an underground movement during World War II. Despite torture, he remained steadfast and faithful to the motto: God, Honor, and Fatherland. Visit our website in English devoted to Witold Pilecki, an officer of the Polish Army reserves, cofounder of the Polish Secret Army, the voluntary prisoner of KL Auschwitz, an officer of the Main Headquarters of the Home Army and “NIE” organisation, a political prisoner of the Stalinist period, a victim of two totalitarian regimes.