We are going to lay flowers at the graves of two soldiers and a noncommissioned officer

On the anniversary of the Soviet traitorous invasion of Poland the Polish Embassy in Vilnius and Polish activists in Lithuania laid flowers at the graves of the Polish soldiers buried on the Rasos Cemetery, who died during the Soviet invasion of Vilnius while standing guard at Marshal Józef Piłsudski’s mausoleum. Home Army combatants and inhabitants of Vilnius and Vilnius Region also participated in the ceremony.

“This year we’re going to lay flowers at the graves of two soldiers and a noncommissioned officer who died staying on duty for Poland to the very end. I invite you to participate in this solemn moment”. – says Polish ambassador Jarosław Czubiński.

The ambassador added that laying flowers on the graves has become a tradition of the Polish diplomatic mission. After laying flowers the ambassador had a short conversation with combatants who were keeping the guard of honour at the graves of fallen soldiers.

The ceremony was also attended by Michał Mackiewicz, chairman of the Association of Poles in Lithuania, Józef Kwiatkowski, chairman of the Polish Educational Society and Stanisław Cygnarowski, General Consul of the Republic of Poland in Lithuania.

“ These are the flower from the whole Polish society in Lithuania” – Michał Mackiewicz stressed.

On 17 September, 1939 at 3:00 a.m. Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. The invasion was the result of the secret protocol which was the part of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The Pact was concluded by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany on 23 August as the Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Its secret protocol divided territory of Poland into Nazi and Soviet “spheres of influence”. The Soviet Union didn’t officially declare the war on Poland while commencing 1 September, Poland was fighting against Nazi Germany.

Wacław Grzybowski, Polish ambassador in Moscow was delivered a diplomatic note from the Soviet authorities which declared that no state of Poland existed any longer, so the Red Army would march in the territory of Poland in order to protect the Ukrainians and Belarusians who lived in the east parts of Poland. The ambassador refused to accept the note’s resolutions which were untrue for at the time of Soviet invasion, Poland was still keeping the defence along the western front line, Warsaw was still under Polish government with government staying in the country.

Poland, facing the necessity of fighting at two front lines wasn’t able to efficiently protect its borders against much greater Soviet army.

At the Ukrainian and Belarusian fronts Soviets had six armies numbering altogether 620,000 soldiers , with 4,700 tanks and 3,300 aircraft. In the operational field Soviet army cooperated with the Germans who withdrew their forces to formerly established division line. At the same time part of the Polish troops, bewildered with unclear Soviet-Polish relationships, was beleaguered and defeated without any fight. The hostilities ceased on 6 October. Polish forces lost approximately 3,000-7,000 soldiers. The eastern parts of Poland were joined to the Ukrainian and Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Soviets aimed repressions at the people who lived there, hundreds of thousands were exiled to Siberia and about 22,000 of the Polish officers and representatives of the local elites were killed in Katyń.

Vilnius was invaded by the Soviet Army in the first stage of the conflict. The defence of the city, unprepared for the fight with Soviet troops, lasted two days, from 18 to 19 September. The Soviet Union gave back the conquered town to Lithuania but at the same time, established in the 28 September German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty, that Lithuania was now in the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence.

Source: http://zw.lt/wilno-wilenszczyzna/zlozymy-kwiaty-przy-grobach-dwoch-zolnierzy-podoficera-rocznica-ataku-zwiazku-sowieckiego-na-polske/

Tłumaczenie by Elżbieta Szafarz w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Elżbieta Szafarz within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.