US Senate adopts resolution commemorating Warsaw Uprising

The US Senate has adopted a resolution recognising the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, and expressing its recognition for the courage and heroism of Polish Home Army soldiers fighting for the liberation of Poland from German Nazi occupation.

In its symbolic resolution adopted by unanimous consent, the Senate described "the Warsaw Uprising as a landmark event during World War II, in which brave citizens of Poland revolted against the German Nazi occupation of the city of Warsaw (...)."

The upper chamber of the US Congress wrote that the Warsaw Uprising was part of a nationwide resistance against the German Nazi occupation of Poland.

The resolution also underlined that the uprising was started by the Polish Home Army, "the underground resistance effort that included many young and brave individuals," while Polish troops were "far outnumbered by the overwhelming German Nazi force, at a cost of approximately 200,000 citizens of Poland killed, wounded, or missing."

The US Senate underlined that the Warsaw Uprising occurred just over a year after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April 1943, "which was the single largest act of Jewish resistance against forces of Nazi Germany."

The resolution recalled that "Adolf Hitler ordered the annihilation of the city of Warsaw and the extermination of its citizens as punishment for the uprising, decimating 80 percent of Warsaw," while the Soviet-led army halted its march toward the city of Berlin at the banks of the Vistula River "on the specific orders of Stalin" to allow the German Nazis to decimate the Poles.

The US senators stated that "the brave citizenry of Poland provide a valuable lesson in perseverance and patriotism," and that "the bravery demonstrated by the citizens of Poland during the Warsaw Uprising continues to inspire people throughout the world who are subjected to tyranny and oppression and who join the fight for freedom, democracy, and the pursuit of liberty."

The resolution "commends the bravery, heroism, and patriotism of the individuals who fought as part of the Polish Home Army in order to liberate Poland from German Nazi occupation and honors the memory of the soldiers and civilians whose lives were lost during the fighting, and the individuals who suffered in concentration camps and death camps during World War II and the Holocaust."

The Polish Embassy in Washington expressed its gratitude for the resolution to Senator Rob Portman, who filed its draft, and to Senator Sherrod Brown, who supported it.

"Thank you @senrobportman and @SenSherrodBrown for your bipartisan resolution honoring the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, passed unanimously in the Senate. Poles in the US and all over the world will appreciate this great gesture," the Embassy wrote on Twitter.