The ceremonies like the one held on 12 August are the culmination of many years of the Office of Search and Identification efforts. The work always starts in the archives, where the experts try to locate information on a victim’s fate and burial. Thorough research not only points to the probable grave location, but also determines physical characteristics (such as height, build or suffered injuries), the findings reinforced by witness testimonies, recorded decades before or made in the course of the identification process. Once the place of burial has been pinpointed, the Office staff need to obtain all required permits from state institutions, private owners of the land where the excavation is to be carried out, or, in case of cemeteries, from their administrators. These arrangements and work organization are the job of the logistic division.

The core of the process, involving archeology and anthropology experts, is the on-site search. It is performed in all kinds of terrain in Poland and abroad: in fields and forests, gardens, urban areas and cemeteries; in 2021, we have worked in over 30 locations. Once remains are uncovered, they are given initial anthropological examination on site, followed by a thorough one in the lab, and a sample of bone matter is taken to be tested against genetic material provided by victims’ relatives. A genetic match means that the person’s identity has been confirmed. For two years, as the only institution in Europe, the IPN has been employing CODIS, a system which the Federal Bureau of Investigation developed to streamline the searching of the genetic material base. It was this efficient tool that allowed the Office to match the names to people identified today.

In today's ceremony, attended by the IPN's leadership, President Karol Nawrocki said,

There are many differences between these heroes: the bulk were born in the 1920s, and the clash against the communist regime after 1945 was their first fighting experience. Others had served as officers and NCOs in the Second Polish Republic, and then, in WWII, became skilled conspirators, though, again, of various underground formations, such as the Home Army, National Armed Forces or Peasants’ Battalions. Finally, the soil of different parts of the country – Szczecin, Warsaw, Łódź or Dobrzyków – soaked in their blood. Yet, despite all these differences, they had something in common: the eagerness to serve Poland, and determination to sacrifice their lives for Poland.

Here are the portraits of the identified victims of totalitarian regimes, whose names we learned today:

Watch the ceremony here: