The anniversary of the defence of Malta and the part played by Poles in that event 19.04.2013 r.

On 14-15 April 2013, a Polish state delegation visited Malta to pay homage to the heroic defenders of the island. This visit coincided with the 71st anniversary of Malta and her residents being collectively awarded the George Cross.

The struggle for Malta lasted nearly three years.  It commenced on 11 June 1940 with the first Italian air raid.  For the British, this archipelago was an important staging post along the route from  Gibraltar to the Suez Canal.  For the Axis powers, it was an obstacle posing a serious threat to the supply lines of the German and Italian forces in North Africa.  Having refused to capitulate, Malta was soon to become the target of relentless bombardment which took a heavy toll in terms of lives that were lost. 

Jan Stanisław Ciechanowski - official appointment as Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression 2013.02.01 r.

Jan Stanisław Ciechanowski was appointed Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression (UDSKiOR) as from 1 February 2013. The appointment was made on the recommendation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, as approved by the Prime Minister on 29 January 2013.
Jan Stanisław Ciechanowski has been closely associate with the UDSKiOR since May 2006 where he began as adviser to Janusz Krupski, the Head of the Office. He was promoted to deputy head as from October 2007 and on 15 April 2010, following the tragic death of Janusz Krupski in the Smoleńsk air disaster, the Prime Minister nominated him as the Acting Head of the UDSKiOR.

70th anniversary of the death of Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz, hero of Poland and Greece 9.01.2013 r.

On 7-8 January 2013, the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression together with the Polish Embassy in Athens and the local authorities of the Athenian district of Kesariani, organised a ceremony in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the death of Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz. On 8th September 1942, the Germans surrounded Iwanow-Szajnowicz in a house at 3, Kioutachia in Athens where he hid after his second daring escape from the island of Faros. He was given a triple death sentence on 2nd December 1942. On 4th January 1943, he was stood before a firing squad at the shooting range in Kesariani (currently a district of Athens). Szajnowicz made his final attempt to escape immediately before his execution; wounded, he was dragged to the spot where he was to meet his death in a hail of bullets.

“Poles in Portugal, 1940-1945”. Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression exhibition opened in Lublin. 03.03.2012 r.

The exhibition “Poles in Portugal, 1940-1945”, mounted by the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression, at the Centre of the Portuguese Language of the Camões Institute at the Maria Curie – Skłodowska University in Lublin, was opened on March 2, 2012. 

Handover of photograph from the Battle of Narvik 22.02.2012 r.

The Defence Attaché of the Kingdom of Norway in Poland, Lt. Col. Thomas Larsen Bergheim, handed over a photograph of Polish Soldiers of the Podhale Brigade in action at Narvik in 1940, to the Acting Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression - Jan Stanisław Ciechanowski, on 21 February 2012.