Poland in Greece

The commemorating event took place in Peta on May 27. The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Athens was represented by the Head of the Political and Economic Department, Tomasz Wiśniewski, and the Defense Attaché, Colonel Jan Kurdzialek.

The Battle of Peta, fought on July 4, 1822, was one of the most important battles of the Greek Uprising and contributed significantly to gaining the support from Europe for the Greek struggle for freedom and sovereignty.  Volunteers  Philhellenes from all over Europe, including a dozen or so Poles, fought in the Greek side. The Philhellenes formed two platoons, and the commander of one of them was Polish officer Franciszek Mierzejewski.

The ceremony organized by the local authorities - the Nikolaos Skoufas Commune, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and students of the local school, took place in the courtyard of the St. George Church, a place of heroic death of Polish Philhellenes.

In his speech during the ceremony, counselor T. Wiśniewski referred to the recent anniversaries, the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution in 2021 and the 100th anniversary of Poland's Independence in 2018, which Poles and Greeks celebrated together, joyfully, and "in the faith that our freedom is inviolable and dark moments of mankind is a past and will never return”.

“Today we know that it is quite the opposite. Every day we learn about new victims of Russian bloody invasion of Ukraine. Men, women, elderly and children die in a conflict that has no rational explanation. Every day, hundreds of soldiers are sent to fight against people who until recently were their neighbors, friends and even relatives. This is happening in Europe, just a few hundred kilometers from Greece and just beyond the Polish border. It seems that humanity has forgotten the lessons learned in places like Peta”, emphasized counselor T. Wiśniewski.