Piotr Gliński said during the vernissage that in today’s world there is no agreement for legislation restricting crimes committed by Poles during World War II.

– If we agree that such crimes can be time-limited, we must agree to the abandonment of modern civilization, because it is based on certain principles and values, including the so-called European values. #bezprzedawNIEnia is based on European values. Currently, attempts are being made to present a narrative that is morally sound – yes, but there is no legal basis. A world where law is unrelated to morality is a totalitarian world, it is a utopian world that, like communism and fascism, has caused millions of victims. If there are moral reasons, there are obviously legal and political reasons too – asserts professor Piotr Gliński.

Delivering the #bezprzedawNIEnia campaign, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that although it was organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, it had to be national.

– All Polish institutions should be responsible for running this campaign. #beforewNa it’s a Polish flower, it’s a Polish raison d’etat. This logo, this hashtag is simple – you know what it means. There is a moral basis, there is a legal basis, and there is a political basis for closing accounts of injustice and, on this closing basis, talking about the future of Europe. This is the basis, this is our raison d’état and it is something we have in our hearts – stressed the head of the Ministry of Culture.

“Ipunity leads to double aggression”

The deputy prime minister pointed out that there was one more argument that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki mentioned during the presentation of the report on losses, justifying the lack of approval for the statute of limitations on crimes from the Second World War.

– If we agree that crimes such as those committed during World War II, or similar crimes currently being committed in Ukraine by Russia, will remain unresolved, we will open our civilization to other aggressions of this type. Impunity leads to the fact that it is duplicated, failure to explain evil leads to the fact that we are dealing with more evil. We deprive ourselves of the axiological foundations of civilization. This is the main reason why we say #beforestupnienia – asserted prof. Piotr Gliński.

The Minister of Culture also offered another double argument – respect for the victims, participants of the event, our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, and the need to institutionalize memory for future generations.

– I heard that some Polish politicians say: “we have no right to that”. I don’t know on whose behalf they say it, but I don’t think it’s on behalf of those who live and are able to choose in those circumstances, where every choice is a tragic choice. And thanks to the fact that our father can vote, we now exist and Poland is developing – said the Deputy Prime Minister.

– The second argument is the question of the institutionalization of memory for future generations. We have to educate the next generation, we have to talk to our children and youth, including the German youth. There is an argument that “the next generation of Germans is not responsible for their grandparents and great-grandparents.” Yes, they answered, because they inherited wealth and a country that was also economically developed during World War II. Germany strengthened economically and economically as a result of World War II. A completely opposite process took place on our side. In addition, there was also a loss of development opportunities due to the fact that we fell into Soviet hands – he added.

Look also:

#BezprzedawNIEnia campaign

Radio Poland has prepared a special website bezrzedawienia.polskieradio.pl, based on self-publishing, which will include the most important studies and analyzes of reparations for losses incurred by Poland as a result of World War II. The website contains historical material based on radio archives concerning, among other things, the lost development potential of Poland in the 1930s and 1940s, the disappearance of Polish libraries and private collections, and the disappearance of the Borderlands. Throughout September and early October, Radio Poland’s antennas will remind you of the losses that Poland suffered as a result of German and Soviet aggression.

The exhibition, which is part of the #bezprzedawNIEnia campaign, is a visual story about selected places destroyed during World War II: Warsaw, Lublin, Krakow, but also Kołobrzeg, Wrocław and Malbork. Illustrations are presented in the lenticular printing technique. – We show the couple photos. There are two photos on one board – a photo showing Polish cities before the outbreak of World War II, and when we take a few steps to the side, we look at this board from different angles, we see the same place turned into ruins – said the director of the Office The program “Niepodległa”.

The exhibition “#bezprzedawNIEnia” is displayed in a symbolic venue. A large-format photo print was placed on the fence, behind which work on the reconstruction of the Saski Palace began. After the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans blew up buildings, only the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with the colonnade fragments survived. The palace was no longer a fighting ground, turning it into rubble was a deliberate act. The exhibition can be seen until September 20, 2022.

The exhibition is also available for download for print and/or the Internet at the niezlegla.gov.pl website.