INFORMATION PORTAL OF THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE OF THE KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE Region IN TORUŃ

German aggression against Poland on September 1, 1939, ignited a global conflict that claimed the lives of 6 million Poles. Across the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region, commemorations of the 86th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II were held on Monday (September 1). Marshal Piotr Całbecki took part in Toruń, Vice-Marshal Zbigniew Ostrowski and Regional Councilor Anna Niewiadomska in Bydgoszcz, Regional Executive Board Member Marek Wojtkowski in Włocławek, and President of the Regional Parliament Elżbieta Piniewska together with Regional Executive Board Member Dariusz Kurzawa in Inowrocław.

“War always brings with it immense suffering and death; it strips away humanity. That is why on this special day, every year, we repeat: Never again war!” said Marshal Piotr Całbecki during the ceremony in Toruń. “While remembering the victims of 86 years ago, we cannot overlook the tragedy unfolding today before our eyes, just beyond our eastern border. Ukrainians, like Poles in 1939, are fighting for their right to freedom and their own state. Facing brutal aggression, we say they are also fighting for our freedom. We believe this war will end justly, and that the suffering nation will regain peace and security.”

The Toruń ceremony marking the 86th anniversary took place at the monument “In honor of those fallen and murdered by the Nazi invader in 1939–1945” on the square of the Officers’ Artillery School. In Bydgoszcz, patriotic events were held at the Cemetery of Bydgoszcz Heroes on Freedom Hill, in the city’s cathedral, and at the Monument to the Struggle and Martyrdom of Bydgoszcz Land.

“That autumn, fields and forests filled with the graves of thousands murdered, for blood soaked not only into the cobblestones of Bydgoszcz. Across the entire Pomorze region, German terror was unleashed. So many years, so many decades have passed, and yet these victims and this death still hurt us deeply! Why? Because there is something that is difficult to accept, even after so many years. That something is neighborly terror and neighborly crimes, which became a grim everyday reality in German-occupied Poland,” said Vice-Marshal Zbigniew Ostrowski in Bydgoszcz.

The Polish Soldier Monument in Włocławek and the Monument to the Defenders of Inowrocław were also sites of remembrance ceremonies. Regional Councilor Wojciech Jaranowski took part in the anniversary commemoration in Włocławek.

World War II began with the bombing of Wieluń (Łódzkie Region) and the shelling of the Polish Military Transit Depot at Westerplatte. In fulfillment of the German-Soviet alliance, the Red Army invaded Poland on September 17. The defensive war ended with the capitulation of Warsaw on September 28, though some units of the Polish Army continued fighting into the first days of October 1939.

Beata Krzemińska
Spokesperson of the Marshal’s Office

September 1, 2025
Last updated: September 2, 2025