Thousands of Poles throughout the country were celebrating the Independence Day on 11 November with marches, concerts and rallies.

The President of the Institute of National Remembrance Karol Nawrocki, Ph.D., took part in the 10th Siedlce Independence Parade in Gdańsk. At 9 a.m., the red-and-white parade set off from the square at the corner of Kartuska and Starodworska streets. Participants in the march placed flowers at commemorative plaques on the historic building of the Gdansk Municipal Police Station at 27 Nowe Ogrody Street.

One of the plaques commemorates the General Commissariat of the Republic of Poland in the Free City of Gdansk, which was located there from 1921 to 1939. During World War II, the Gestapo headquarters were located in the same building. The second plaque refers to the anniversary of the Poland's Wedding to the Sea. Nearby — in a detention center on Kurkowa Street — were held Jozef Pilsudski and Kazimierz Sosnkowski, who were sent there for refusing to take the military oath of obedience to the German emperor in July 1917. In the same place, on 28 August 1946, a death sentence was carried out on soldiers of the 5th Wileńska Brigade of the Home Army: Danuta Siedzikówna alias "Inka" and Feliks Selmanowicz alias "Zagończyk."

At 9:50 a.m., the parade arrived in front of the monument to King Jan III Sobieski, where a wreath of flowers was laid, followed by a commemorative speech by the IPN President. He recalled that when he initiated the Freedom Parade in Siedlce 12 years ago along with Siedlce district representative Andrzej Wardziak and with the support of Jędrzej Włodarczyk, he could not have imagined that he would have the opportunity to speak as president of one of the most important scientific and research institutions in the country years later.

11 November crowned the efforts of many generations of Poles - the military effort of the Polish legions and servicemen commanded by Józef Piłsudski, the diplomatic work of the national wing politicians, such as Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Jan Paderewski, the efforts of Polish peasants and their representatives led by Wincenty Witos, and the commitment of all these patriots, socialists and workers that Ignacy Daszyński stood for,

said Karol Nawrocki, Ph.D.

The Deputy President Prof. Karol Polejowski took part in the Independence Day celebrations in Warsaw. The official ceremonies with the participation of the President of Poland Andrzej Duda, and the highest state officials were held on Jozef Pilsudski Square in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Also the Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda attended Polish Independence Day in Warsaw. An eternal candle burns at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in memory of the fallen defenders of the homeland. The history of the tomb dates back to 1923, when at the foot of the monument to Prince Jozef Poniatowski, the citizens of Warsaw spontaneously placed a plaque in honor of the Unknown Soldier. On 2 November 1925, under the colonnade of the Saski Palace, the ashes of the Unknown Soldier from the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv and soil from the battlefields of World War I were ceremoniously placed.