"Semper Fidelis" - an IPN prize, honouring the custodians of the national memory of the Eastern Borderlands.
During the gala, the Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Prof.. Karol Polejowski emphasized that:
It is our duty to remember our ancestors who greatly contributed to the development of Polish culture, but also to award those who take care of this unique heritage. Semper Fidelis is the motto that guides all those who are upright and honest. You, Ladies and Gentlemen, remain faithful to this message, carrying the memory of past generations and the achievements of the Polish Eastern Borderlands.
He also recalled that after 1945, the memory of the Eastern Borderlands was to be erased, but people who left those areas and settled in Poland carried this memory and cultivated it to express their love for the places they came from and the graves of their ancestors.
The change of borders after 1945 meant that part of the centuries-old heritage of the Republic of Poland was included into the territories of today's Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. These lands, however, are still the source of our national identity, tradition and culture. Persons devoted to restoring and preserving the memory of the history of the Borderlands deserve special recognition and gratitude on the part of not only present but also future generations of Poles.
The Semper Fidelis Prize established by the IPN in 2019 it’s an honorary distinction annually awarded to individuals, institutions and social organizations whose public activity coincides with the statutory objectives of the IPN, for their particularly active participation in commemorating the heritage of the Polish Eastern Borderlands both in the Republic of Poland and abroad.
The winners are selected by the Prize Committee chaired by the President of the Institute of National Remembrance. During the award ceremony, the laureates receive a commemorative statuette and a diploma. The committee also may award one post-mortem prize each year.
The IPN "Semper Fidelis" awards ceremony took place on 2 December 2024, in Warsaw’s Royal Castle.
Following people received the Prize:
Halina Kisłacz
Polish social activist and doctor, member of the Union of Poles in Estonia since its establishment in 1989. In 2004, Halina Kisłacz was elected President of this organization. For many years, she has been actively involved in protecting Polish heritage in Estonia and building a positive image of Poland and Poles in this country. For her many years of work for the Polish community, Halina Kisłacz was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
Olena Udovenko
Social activist, President of the Association of Polish Language and Culture lovers "Most Nadziei", involved in commemorating the history of the Katyn Massacre and its victims, as well as disseminating knowledge of the Polish language, culture and traditions in Starobilsk, Luhansk Oblast Ukraine.
Mirosław Gajewski
Historian, museologist, local government official. His research focuses on the Vilnius region, with particular emphasis on the activities of the Home Army in its area. He was born in Vilnius into a family which cultivated Polish customs and traditions, which became the source of his interests in later years.
Tadeusz Marcinkowski -- post mortem award
A popularizer of the Borderlands, he actively worked for the commemoration of Volhynia. He was born in Lutsk, from where he was deported to Siberia with his mother and sister in 1941. His father, arrested in 1930 by the NKVD, was murdered in Kyiv and buried in one of the death pits in Bykivnia, near Kyiv. After the war, Tadeusz Marcinkowski and his family settled in Zielona Gora.
Collective award
Society of Friends of Vilnius and Vilnius Land in Olsztyn
Established on 11 February 1989, initially under the name Society of Friends of Vilnius and Vilnius Land as a branch of the main board in Torun. Since 2015 it has been an independent entity and at the same time continues the tradition of the organization established in 1989.
The main areas of the Society's activity are material support for Poles in the Vilnius region and popularization of culture, history, traditions of Vilnius and Vilnius Land in Poland. The organization engages in periodic lectures (including Vilnius Thursdays - since 2015), concerts (including on the occasion of the feast of Our Lady of Ostra Brama), as well as publishing and educational activities.
Honorable award:
Marta Axentowicz-Bohosiewicz
She comes from an old Armenian family with ties to the borderlands of Pokuttya. Together with her husband, she founded in 2012 the Armenian Foundation, which brings together Polish Armenians and cultivates their traditions and history inextricably linked to the Polish Eastern Borderlands.