The ceremonial gala during which the laureates of this year’s "Custodian of National Memory" Prize will receive their awards from the President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki Ph.D., is going to be held at the Royal Castle in Warsaw at 12:00. The event will be broadcast live on IPNtv.
The prize is honorary, and its winners receive the title of Custodian of National Memory. It is awarded annually by a Jury chaired by the President of the Institute of National Remembrance and composed of previous winners of the prize. It can be awarded to institutions, social organisations and individuals for particularly active participation in commemorating the history of the Polish nation in the years 1939–1989, as well as for public activities that coincide with the statutory objectives of the Institute of National Remembrance.
This year’s winners are:
Zofia Biernacka, who left the USSR and served as a medic during the Battle of Monte Cassino. She later emigrated to Chicago, USA, where she upheld Poland's good name.
The late Bishop Władysław Miziołek, who provided spiritual support to members of the resistance movement during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. Later, he also helped opponents of communist Poland. He was under communist surveillance in the 1970s and 1980s.
Father Jerzy Pająk, who assisted members of the anti-communist opposition, operating within the Capuchin Order in Krakow.
Tadeusz Drwal, who opposed the communist regime as a member of the alternative scene. He was interned under 1981 martial law.
The Piaśnica Family Association, established to commemorate Poles killed by the Germans in the Piaśnica Forest.
"A nation without memory, without identity, has a weakened immune system, ceases to be a nation, and becomes merely a group of people temporarily inhabiting a given territory. This is why memory is so important, and why the Institute of National Remembrance, which has been operating for the benefit of Poland and Poles for over 20 years, is so important," said the President of the Institute during the ceremony.
Since 2002, the Institute of National Remembrance has been awarding the Custodian of National Memory Prize, initiated by Janusz Kurtyka and his associates from the Cracow Branch of the IPN. The main idea behind it was to restore respect for the nation’s past and protect the values which saw Poland through the years of totalitarian enslavement. The Institute wanted to reward people and organizations which had worked to commemorate national history, their work in line with the statutory goals of the IPN.
Primate of the Millennium, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, had warned that "a nation without history, without a past, soon becomes a nation without land, a homeless nation, without a future." Therefore, it is our duty to remember our history. Custodians of National Memory help us fulfil that duty – and in doing so, they play a very significant role in building the foundations of Polish identity, which draws its strength from history and tradition.
A custodian is a guardian and keeper of memory of places, events and people from the past; his or her job is to collect artifacts and documents, to keep them safe, and to preserve them for future generations. We are all indebted to those guardians of our memory who, sometimes completely on their own, against indifference of others, sometimes repressed by the communist regime, and after 1989 abandoned by the Polish state, kept this priceless deposit of our proud history and our independence safe.