Poznań. 106th anniversary of the Greater Poland Uprising

106 years ago, the day after Ignacy Jan Paderewski arrived in Poland, it exploded Greater Poland Uprising. The insurrection that started on December 27, 1918 in Poznań was the largest successful independence movement in the partitioned Poland.

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On this occasion, crowds of Poznań residents welcomed Paderewski, who, just like 106 years ago, entered the Summer Station by train, greeting the residents. The staging has been organized for 40 years on the initiative of the Poznań Teachers' Choir. Ignacy Jan Paderewski. The politician and artist was again played by Poznań actor Andrzej Lajborek.

The historic train that entered the Summer Railway Station on Thursday was driven by a steam locomotive from the Wolsztyn Roundhouse.

Przemysław Terlecki, director of the Greater Poland Independence Museum, in an interview with TVN24 recalled the circumstances that accompanied Paderewski's arrival to Poland in 1918. – It's Christmas. About 170,000 people live in Poznań, half of each Germans and Poles. The Germans welcome him because they know that a world-famous pianist, artist and star is coming. Poles also welcome him as a star, but somewhere deep in their hearts they hope that Paderewski, who is traveling with England to Warsaw, with the great mission of becoming prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, he brings freedom and independence – said the director.

– The Germans turned off our lights. They simply wanted to prevent us from enjoying the arrival of an independent Poland, which Paderewski personified. Today, in full light, with great joy and gratitude, we remember the heroic insurgents of Greater Poland – said Terlecki.

The memory of the heroes of the Greater Poland Uprising was honored on Friday in Poznań by participants of the main celebrations marking the 106th anniversary of the outbreak of the uprising. Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz he emphasized the need to disseminate knowledge about the victory of the people of Greater Poland.

– The memory of the uprising cannot be only symbolic; it must be authentic and real in our actions, but also in events and signs – said the head of the Ministry of National Defense. He noted that one of the tactical units of the Polish Army would be named after the Victorious Greater Poland Uprising.

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The main celebrations to mark the anniversary and the National Day of the Victorious Greater Poland Uprising, celebrated this year for the fourth time, took place on Friday at the Monument to the Greater Poland Insurgents in Poznań.

Deputy Prime Minister, head of the Ministry of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz emphasized that the date of the Greater Poland Uprising is a “shining star” in a number of Polish anniversaries, events and historical moments. – Victory did not come alone, it was not born only in those December days and during the 52 days of the uprising. Victory has been in the making for decades and generations. Through work at the grassroots, the unwavering fight against Germanization, the preservation of the language, religion, tradition and culture. Through a Polish house, through a peasant cottage, through school and church. In all these places where, even when speaking Polish was forbidden, the invaders and partitioners never managed to prohibit and destroy thinking in Polish – he said.

The host of the ceremony, Marshal of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, Marek Woźniak, said in his speech that the central celebrations in front of the monument to the Greater Poland Insurgents of 1918-1919 are only a small part of the annual celebrations that take place throughout the region until February 16. – We celebrate not only at monuments and cemeteries, but also during concerts, marches, runs, field games, historical reconstructions and many other events. All of them are good forms of expressing pride and joy in victory, as long as they are not directed against someone or something. The memory of the uprising builds our regional identity and we want it to be free from current political tensions, which has almost always been achieved here, in front of the insurgents' monument, he said.

Marshal Szymon Hołownia he noted that he came to Poznań at the ceremony to bow on behalf of the Polish Sejm to all those who took part in the uprising and those who gave their lives in battle.

– Greater Poland knows well the value of systematic, organic, positivistic work. There would have been no victory of the uprising if it had not been for decades of building civil society, economic unions, profit-making companies, without cultivating the Polish language, culture and traditions – said the Marshal of the Sejm. He emphasized that work is also a struggle, “work that sometimes takes many decades, but always leads to the goal, joint work.”

– The victorious Greater Poland Uprising gives us strength to look to the future, hope that we are a nation that remembers and knows that work is a fight, (…) that cooperation is more profitable for Poland, that one party called Poland is able to overcome everything and win everything – said Hołownia.

On Saturday, celebrations related to the 106th anniversary of the outbreak of the uprising will be celebrated in Warsaw.

December 27 is the National Day of the Victorious Greater Poland Uprising. During 52 days of fighting, which began on December 27, 1918, the insurgents managed to liberate almost the entire Prussian Province of Poznań. Then they fought on subsequent fronts for the borders of independent Poland.

During the first period of fighting, by the end of the year, the Poles managed to capture most of the city. It was finally liberated on January 6, 1919, when the airport was taken over. By mid-January, most of the region was also liberated. The insurgents' gains were confirmed by the armistice in Trier, signed by Germany and the Entente countries on February 16, 1919. According to its arrangements, the Greater Poland front was recognized as the front of the fighting of the allied countries. The final victory was sealed by the Treaty of Versailles signed on June 28, 1919, as a result of which almost all of Greater Poland returned to Poland.

According to estimates, over 70,000 fought in the insurgent ranks. volunteers and regular soldiers of the Greater Poland Army, and losses on the Polish side amounted to approximately 2.5 thousand. fallen and dead and 6 thousand injured.