Commemorations marking the 163rd anniversary of the outbreak of the January Uprising were held at the Warsaw Citadel. The ceremonies were attended by the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, and the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda. The Institute of National Remembrance was represented by the Deputy President of the IPN,Prof. Karol Polejowski.

On the escarpment of the Citadel, the Presidents, accompanied by their spouses and scouts, lit candles at the symbolic graves of the January Uprising insurgents.

The participants of the commemorations proceeded to the Execution Gate of the Warsaw Citadel, where they lit candles and paid tribute to the insurgents executed at that site. During the ceremony, the President of the Republic of Poland drew attention to the importance of preserving the memory of the January Uprising and its participants.

“As the Commander of the January Uprising, Romuald Traugutt, said, this uprising broke out solely in order to regain independence and to return to the order of Christian love, respect for the law and for all justice within the framework of the Republic,”– emphasised the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki.

Paying tribute to past generations who, through their struggle for an independent and sovereign Homeland, made a significant contribution to the liberation of the Polish Nation, and mindful of the need to preserve the sacrifice of those generations in national memory, the Institute of National Remembrance, pursuant to the Act of 22 November 2018 on the Graves of Veterans of the Struggle for Freedom and Independence of Poland, finances, among others, the care, maintenance, and renovation of the graves of the participants in the January Uprising.

The IPN regularly finances the renovation of damaged insurgents’ graves, undertaking its own initiatives as well as granting benefits and subsidies for the care of the graves of veterans of the struggle for independence that are entered into a special register. Subsidies may cover up to 100% of the costs of renovation works, construction, relocation, or maintenance of a grave, and even the payment of lease fees, thereby preventing the liquidation of burial sites. Numerous benefits and subsidies have been granted for the renovation of the graves of January Uprising insurgents. Since 2020, the Institute of National Remembrance has renovated nearly 100 graves of January Uprising participants.

Thanks to the implementation of the Act on the Graves of Veterans of the Struggle for Independence of Poland, the practice of removing the graves of insurgents who died in the late 19th or early 20th century and whose graves lacked family care has been significantly reduced.

In accordance with the aforementioned Act, the IPN’s Office for Commemorating the Struggle and Martyrdom maintains a register of veterans’ graves, a part of which consists of the graves of January Uprising participants. To date, more than 1,000 graves of veterans of the January Uprising in Poland and abroad have been entered into the register.