Last Friday Pilsudski Institute of America awarded the distinguished Poles. Krzysztof Szwagrzyk, Commissioner of the President of IPN for exploration of unknown burial places of victims of the Communist terror, was among this year's winners.

The ceremony was held at the Consulate General of Poland in New York under the auspices of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The awards have been handed in by Dr. Magdalena Kapuścińska, President of the Pilsudski Institute, and Dr. Iwona Korga, Executive Director of the institution.

Under the agreement signed in 2011 by the Institute of National Remembrance, Council for the Protection of Memory of Combat and Martyrdom and the Ministry of Justice, Krzysztof Szwagrzyk directs the research project "Search for unknown burial places of victims of the Communist terror in the years 1944-1956." Following the exhumation work on the Powązki Military Cemetery remains of 194 people were found. 28 of them have been identified so far.