Polish delegation pays tribute to soldiers at Monte Cassino, Italy
The Battle of Monte Cassino proves that Polish soldiers are the best in the world, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said on Thursday at a ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of the WWII battle at the Polish War Cemetery in Monte Cassino.
Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak and Minister of Interior Affairs and Administration Joachim Brudziński participated on Friday in a ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of the World War II battle, won by the Allies largely through the effort of Polish forces.
Speaking with journalists, Błaszczak said that the Monte Cassino heroes "conveyed fundamental values, which create the Polish national identity (...) We pay tribute to all who fought at Monte Cassino, we remember in our prayers those who sacrificed their life and it is a great honour to meet with those (Monte Cassino veterans - PAP) who came here to Monte Cassino in Italy, it is truly a privilege to talk with them and pay them tribute, express appreciation and thank them. They performed incredible acts."
The minister of defence added that "the location of this place itself shows what a huge effort was made to seize Monte Cassino (...) It is also important how the Polish government approaches the matter. Every time we meet and discuss, we underline how significant a role was played by Polish soldiers for the liberation of Italy, to creating a system of freedom and democracy there."
The minister also noted that the battle of Monte Cassino is "further evidence that Polish soldiers are the best in the World, that Poles love our homeland - Poland."
Minister of Interior Affairs and Administration Joachim Brudziński said that the visits by former government delegations, headed first by the late President Lech Kaczyński and then by President Andrzej Duda, "show that this is a place for Poland, it’s an extremely important place for Polish people, which is among the sacred places sanctified by the blood of Polish soldiers."
In a letter to the ceremony participants, President Andrzej Duda wrote that today's free and sovereign Poland was proof that the Monte Cassino soldiers had not died in vain.
"Today we can rest assured that the Monte Cassino heroes did not make their sacrifice in vain, but that it has borne fruit - a free, sovereign and strong Poland. I can give my assurance about this as the President of the Republic, a country that is proudly celebrating its independence centenary this year," Duda wrote.
The ministers were scheduled to visit the Polish War Cemetery in the late evening, where a roll of honor was planned.
The Monte Cassino hill, along with the Benedictine abbey, represented the military fortifications at the Gustav Line which prevented the Allies from seizing Rome during the later stages of the Second World War. Polish units on the Allied force played a major role in the 1944 battle, seizing Monte Cassino under heavy German shellfire on May 18. In all, 923 Polish soldiers were killed in the fighting, with 2,931 wounded and 345 reported missing.
The Polish War Cemetery was established on the hillsides of Monte Cassino at the turn of 1945. It contains the graves of 1,072 soldiers. In 1970, the cemetery became the burial site of General Władysław Anders, the commander of the Polish 2nd Corps which captured the monastery hill in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. (PAP)
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