The 25th anniversary of the activity of the Home Army Veterans Club

The Home Army Veterans Club celebrates this year the 25th anniversary of its activity and the 10th anniversary of its registration by the Lithuanian authorities. On Wednesday (the 4th of March), the ceremony on this occasion will take place in the House of Polish Culture.

Currently, there are 8 veterans of the Home Army and several supporting members in the Club. It was created in 1989/1990, and there were about 80 veterans of the Home Army in 1990s. Then, Vilnian veterans of the Home Army were also counterchecked and taken into the World Association of Home Army Soldiers.

Because of the repeated refusals to register the Club under the name of the Home Army Veterans Club by the Lithuanian authorities, in the mid-1990s the organization was registered as the Word War II Veterans Club. Despite it, the Club was still trying to register itself under the name of the Home Army Veterans Club. Only the 11th attempt to register it under that name succeeded – in August 2004, the Lithuanian authorities registered the name “The Home Army Veterans Club”, not allowing for the “in Lithuania” part to be in it.

In September 2004, the Club signed the Reconciliation Act in the Lithuanian Presidency with the Lithuanian veterans from Gen. Povilas Plechavičius’s Auxiliary Corps, whom the Vilnian Home Army fought several battles with in spring 1944. The reconciliation led to common trips to Poland to visit, for instance, the Fields of Grunwald. Despite the promises, Lithuanian authorities did not grant the social benefit to the Vilnian veterans of the Home Army as the members of the anti-Nazi coalition – the benefits for veterans are granted to them by the Republic of Poland. The Club takes care of the graves of the soldiers of the Home Army in the Vilnius Region and promotes the historical memory of the Polish underground in the Vilnius Region during the years of the Second World War.

The celebrations on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the activity of the Home Army Veterans Club and the 10th anniversary of its registration by the Lithuanian authorities will take place on the 4th of March (Wednesday) at 2 p.m. in the House of Polish Culture, room 005.