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27.02.2017

„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers, 26 February 2017

„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)
„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)
„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)
„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)
„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)
„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)
„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)
„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)
„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)
„Wolf Track” run – 5th edition of the run in tribute to Accursed Soldiers 26.02.2017 (fot. Marcin Jurkiewicz/IPN)

On 26 February over 60,000 people took part in the " Wolf Track" run in 240 locations throughout Poland and abroad, including London, New York and Vilnius. This was the 5th edition of the project, co-organised by the Institute of National Remembrance, in tribute to Accursed Soldiers.

In Warsaw about three thousand people ran in three distances: 1,963 meters - this number symbolizing the year in which Sgt Józef Franczak "Lalek”, considered the last surviving underground anti-communist partisan, was killed, and  5 and 10 km. Prizes for the run were awarded by Deputy President of the IPN Prof. Krzysztof Szwagrzyk.

The participants and organisers of the run also hosted, among others, Weronika Sebastianowicz, an Accursed Soldier, who came to Poland from Belarus especially for the occasion. Everybody was impressed by all the elderly people who took part in the race. The oldest participant is celebrating his 76th birthday this year.

This year's run, dedicated to the memory of Accursed Soldiers, had the honorary patronage of, among others, the Polish Army and the Ministry of Defense. The event was attended by the Minister of Defense Antoni Macierewicz. In more than 40 villages garrison runs were organised by military units with the participation of civilians. The "Wolf Track" run also attracted the soldiers staying in military missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Kuwait and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Numerous events were also held, among others, in the US - in New York and Chicago, London, Ukraine and Lithuania, as well as Australia. The memory of the Polish underground independence was also honoured by American soldiers stationed in Poland - our allies took part in the race organised by the 35th Air Defense Missile Squadron in Skwierzyna.

The run was part of the celebration of the National Day of Remembrance of Accursed Soldiers, established in 2011. The date of this national holiday refers to the date of the execution of seven activists of the "Freedom and Independence" association on 1 March 1951.

 


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