The IPN “Trails of Hope. The Odyssey of Freedom” exhibition was officially opened at Palazzo Sangallo in Loreto in the Marche region of Italy on 15 September 2024. Deputy Director of the IPN's Office of International Cooperation Mateusz Marek Ph.D., laid flowers at the Loreto cemetery and met with Archbishop of Loreto Fabio Dal Cin.
The event was also attended by the Mayor of Loreto Moreno Pieroni, the President of the ANCR (National Veterans Association) and Anna Traczewska, the founder and Director of the ANDERS School of Polish Language and Culture in Italy.
Eighty years ago, the 2nd Polish Corps liberated Ancona, and before that Loreto and other towns in the Marche region. The capture of Ancona was the result of pursuit operations along the Adriatic Sea from mid-June to mid-July 1944. Thanks to the flanking maneuver of the 5th Border Infantry Division, soldiers of the Carpathian Lancers Regiment and the 2nd Carpathian Rifle Battalion entered the city after two days of fighting on 18 July 1944. The breakthrough of the German positions took place on the axis of the 19th-century fortress gate Porta Santo Stefano, which is now a site commemorating the victory of the Polish soldiers. Soldiers fallen in the fighting in the Ancona region are buried in the Polish war cemetery in Loreto.
In April 1945, General Władysław Anders' soldiers were taking part in the Battle of Bologna, thus ending their combat trail. After the war, the 2nd Polish Corps remained in Italy as part of the stabilization forces, performing its duties until 1947, when the unit was disbanded.
Find out more about the 2nd Polish Corps on our website: https://szlakinadziei.ipn.gov.pl/sne