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The commemorations of the 80^th anniversary of the arrival of the first transport of Warsaw Insurgents in Stalag 344 Lamsdorf were unique owing to three important events: laying flowers and lighting candles at the Monument to the Warsaw Insurgents – POWs of Stalag 344 Lamsdorf, a music concert and the opening of an exhibition.

Representatives of various backgrounds and - most importantly - the participants of the Warsaw Uprising themselves, turned up in front of the monument commemorating Warsaw insurgents - POWs of the Lamsdorf camp: Helena Kamerska, code name ‘Halina’ and Stanisław Wołczaski, code name ‘Kazimierz’. Flowers were laid and candles were lit at it by: Antoni Konopka, a member of the Self-government of Opole Province, Dr. Piotr Rypson, Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Opole Voivodeship Superintendent of Education, Joanna Raźniewska, as well as representatives of the self-government of the Opole Province, uniformed services, scientific and culture circles, non-governmental organisations, and the local community.

The next item on the agenda of the commemorations was a concert performed by solo voices, recitation, choir and orchestra at the St Mary Magdalene Church in Łambinowice. The music by Szymon Chyliński was accompanied by words written by Leszek Zdun. The message of the cantata was clear even to those not familiar with the history of captivity of the Warsaw Uprising insurgents - the libretto sung by the soprano, bass and choir was interwoven with a narrative of a more factual nature, recited by Magdalena Gleba and Leszek Zdun. The concert ended with an ovation and a few concluding words from Father Piotr Bałos, the parish priest, and Dr. Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska.

The closing stages of Sunday's commemorations took place at the Łambinowice seat of the Museum, as it is there where the open-air exhibition, The Face of Courage. Witold Pilecki (1901-1948), prepared by the Museum of the Second World War, is presented. This interesting and also aesthetically pleasing exhibition was introduced by the great-grandson of the title character - Krzysztof Kosior, assisted by our colleague Dr. Piotr Stanek, who drew the audience's attention to little known facts of the Rittmeister's biography, with the POW episode in the foreground.

The evening was concluded with a pleasant moment spent in a more relaxed atmosphere over refreshments at the Museum. This was the first opportunity to share first impressions of the event with each other.

Photos: S. Dubiel/CMJW.