84th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War

September 1 is an important date for Poles. A date that in the consciousness of millions of people is irrevocably associated with the trauma of World War II and its consequences. One could say, “it’s been so many years.” Yes, this is true. But from generation to generation the tragedy of the war is passed down in Polish families, told, and on this very day unhealed wounds are often reopened.
Why is it that in the Polish social consciousness the war and its aftermath is a constant, ongoing, though emotionally discussed to varying degrees. Why do Poles as a society still feel themselves to be victims of this terrible war turmoil. Let’s recall a few facts: during the hostilities, some 1.5 million Poles lost their lives, hundreds of thousands were deported to German or Soviet camps, hundreds of thousands were forced as forced laborers into slave labor for the Third Reich. The mass extermination of Polish and European Jews took place in German extermination camps organized on Polish territory.
Those Poles who were able to survive the wartime nightmare were repeatedly persecuted after 1945 by the new communist authorities, dependent on Moscow’s policies.
As a result of international arrangements, the borders of the Polish state changed. The Republic lost its eastern territories, and there were displacements and resettlements. This succinct description shows that the Polish national war trauma has its deep causes.
The work of commemorating this day has a special character in a city like Zgorzelec. We should remember that it was here that the Germans organized one of the first prisoner of war camps, Stalag VIII A, where the first prisoners of war – Polish soldiers – were sent as early as September.
The ceremonies associated with this day are always held at the Eagle monument, erected to commemorate the Second Polish Army, which liberated the area in 1945 at the side of the Red Army.
Through our educational work here at the Memorial, on the grounds of the former Stalag VIII A, we want to restore and preserve the memory of the people who, brought here from the battlefields, experienced the bitterness of defeat, the uncertainty of their further fate, suffered hunger and worked hard.
Recalling today all the victims of this war, let us especially remember the first victims of September 1939, several thousand Polish soldiers, prisoners of war, brought in transports to this camp.
Honor their Memory!