The celebration started with the Holy Mass for the late Professor Janusz Kurtyka, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) and the late Janusz Krupski, the Vice – President of the IPN in the years 2000 – 2006. At 10.30 am at the wall of IPN’s headquarters, Zuzanna Kurtyka, the widow of the late Professor Kurtyka together with her sons and Franciszek Gryciuk, the acting President of the IPN unveiled the plaque commemorating Professor Kurtyka, who died in the plane crash in Smoleńsk.

At 12.00 main celebration started at the Royal Castle. Jacek Michałowski, the Chief of the Chancellery read the letter of President Bronisław Komorowski: "During the years of its existence the Institute of National Remembrance has done tremendous work for the state. The documentation of crimes committed against the Polish nation and the study of postwar Polish history showing the functioning of the communist system in our country is a great achievement in the history of the Institute. Without this effort, it would be difficult to imagine the collective awareness of a sovereign, free nation we have become once more in 1989” - the President wrote. Then, Jacek Michałowski awarded employees of the IPN with the gold, silver and bronze Crosses of Merit.

Professor Paweł Śpiewak gave a lecture about the influence of the Institute on the social conscience in Poland. Then, there was a panel discussion about the influence of similar institutions in other countries on the social conscience of their citizens. In the discussion participated inter alia representatives of: the Committee for disclosing and announcing affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to the State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Army, the Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, the Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the Former German Democratic Republic, the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security, the Romanian National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives and the Slovak Nation's Memory Institute.