Poland in Australia

On 10 April 2010, a special TU-154M plane with the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and the First Lady Maria Kaczyńska on board took off from Warsaw to Smolensk. On that very day the members of the official delegation were to participate in the ceremonies taking place in the Katyn War Cemetery, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the crime committed there. The aircraft carried 96 people, including members of the highest state authorities, representatives of various social circles and religious denominations, high-ranking military commanders and the plane’s crew. All the flight passengers died in the air disaster which took place during landing at the airport near Smolensk.

The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) hereby announces the sixth edition of the international "Witness of History" award. This is an honorary distinction established in March 2009 by the IPN's President and conferred by the Institute. It is granted to individuals and organisations in recognition of their outstanding contribution to commemorating the history of the Polish Nation and supporting the IPN in its statutory activities in the field of education and research.

The Polish Senate, in a resolution adopted by the upper house of parliament on Friday, expressed its solidarity with the Australian people, who have been fighting catastrophic fires for months.

The 20th century brought the world inconceivable suffering and the deaths of hundreds of millions in the name of twisted, totalitarian ideologies. The death toll of Nazism, fascism and communism is obvious for people of our generation. It is also obvious who is responsible for those crimes and whose pact started World War II - the most murderous conflict in the history of humankind.

Celebrations of the 101st anniversary of the Polish independence were held across Australia and concluded in Canberra.