Warsaw marks 82nd Uprising anniversary with mass; Nawrocki tells insurgents 'Warsaw, you have won'
On July 31, 2026, at Plac Krasińskich, President Karol Nawrocki, Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and top officials attended a mass and Apel Pamięci to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, with calls for national unity against Russian threats.
Eve of remembrance
On July 31, 2026, the eve of the 82nd anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, Poland's top officials gathered at Plac Krasińskich for a mass and the Apel Pamięci. Among those present were President Karol Nawrocki, Marshal of the Senate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Krzysztof Bosak, Minister of Culture Marta Cienkowska, Minister-Coordinator of Special Services Tomasz Siemoniak, Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, opposition figure Mariusz Błaszczak, and members of the diplomatic corps. The Warsaw Insurgents' Union, headed by Janusz Maksymowicz, led the veteran delegation. The ceremony set the tone for the city-wide moment of silence at 5 p.m. on August 1.
- Mass and Apel Pamięci at the Monument to the Warsaw Uprising, Plac Krasińskich
- Janusz Maksymowicz, President Nawrocki and Mayor Trzaskowski address participants
- City commemorates W-hour with a moment of silence
President Nawrocki: a drama of necessity
President Nawrocki directly challenged the view that the 1944 insurrection was a burst of emotion.
The outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising was not impulsive romanticism or emotion. Only those who forget that the sentence on Warsaw and Poland was passed in 1939 can say so, and since 1939, through organic, positivist work, Poles built the largest underground state in the world — with its own courts, education, culture, art, with the largest underground army — that is not impulsive romanticism.
He described the uprising as an ancient tragedy, a "drama of necessity" where no single good choice existed. Yet the insurgents were heroes, prepared to sacrifice their lives for dignity, humanity and Poland's sovereignty. In Poland's history, he said, statistics and calculation have always been defeated by the deeply-rooted longing for freedom and independence embedded in the "Polish soul." That attachment, he added, is Poland's contribution to the European Union, a trait the world respects. Concluding, he told the survivors: "Warsaw, you have won."
Trzaskowski: you are our teachers
Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, addressing the insurgents directly, insisted that Poland does not need mythology but fidelity to the values they imparted.
Warsaw and Poland do not need mythology to realize their dreams and aspirations. They need faithfulness to the values you instilled in us. You were and remain teachers for all of us.
He noted that monuments may weather but the values the insurgents transmit are eternal. Trzaskowski said that his generation not only builds monuments but also follows what the insurgents taught, and pledged that every August 1 at 5 p.m., Warsaw will stand to pay homage.
Maksymowicz's appeal for unity
Janusz Maksymowicz, president of the Warsaw Insurgents' Union, opened the speeches by recalling that Hitler's plan to erase Warsaw from the map failed and that the city has been rebuilt into a modern European capital. He made a direct political appeal: "We call upon all political forces to be united on the matter of security and peace," referencing the threat from Russia. Maksymowicz expressed confidence in both the Polish armed forces and NATO guarantees, underlining that the insurgents' sacrifice must translate into national unity today.
