Zalavas clean-up is finished: a thousand white and red flowers are in bloom

On Sunday in Zalavas, the birthplace of Marshal Józef Piłsudski, Poles from Vilnius Region banded together on Facebook to take care of a neglected area. The main thing was to tidy up a big flower bed. One thousand white and red flowers were planted there, founded by Radio Znad Wilii. The area of Zalavas, which was neglected and overgrown last week, was already cleaned by scouts and members of the Association of Poles in Lithuania. The impulse for social actions was a statement published in “Nasza Gazeta”, in which, among other things, was written: “All the recently taken actions of defamation and keeping the Main Board of the Association of Poles in Lithuania from decision-making and taking action make further work and realising plans in Zalavas virtually impossible. There are also not being realised all the planned initiatives to celebrate 100 years of Poland regaining independence, which is special to this place. In such a situation white-and-red flags – the symbol of jubilee year – were lowered to half mast”. “It’s summer now, the grass is growing, I should organise some young people for clean up. I thought the one who will take a wreath would clean a bit. Because it is not only our case. Of course, when everything’s fine, it’s fine. When not exactly, it’s our fault” – complained the president of the Association of Poles in Lithuania in an interview. After a violent reaction of Polish society in the Vilnius Region, criticism from Poland and after volunteers showed up, willing to clean up the area, the members of the Association of Poles in Lithuania apparently changed their mind.