87th Anniversary of the Outbreak of the Second World W

Eighty-seven years ago, the bloodiest armed conflict in world history began, claiming tens of millions of lives, including 6 million Polish citizens. On 1 September, commemorative events marking the outbreak of the Second World War will be held across the region, attended by representatives of the regional government.

“We owe eternal remembrance to those who fell on the fronts of the Second World War, those murdered in Nazi extermination camps, those who died in Soviet gulags, the soldiers of the Home Army and the civilian victims of the war. Their sacrifice helped build the free Poland we live in today. Glory to the heroes, glory to the Republic of Poland!” says Marshal Piotr Całbecki.

The regional commemorations of the 87th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War will take place at the Monument to the Victims of the 1939 Pomeranian Crime.

The monument in Toruń’s Park of Remembrance was unveiled in 2018. Its simple form evokes the image of a house destroyed by shellfire. Beneath the monument, soil has been placed from all of the nearly 400 known execution sites dating from the autumn of 1939 and the beginning of 1940. The site also features plaques commemorating teachers, scouts and members of the clergy murdered in 1939, as well as a stone dedicated to the memory of Józef Władysław Bednarz, known as the “Pomeranian Korczak”, a psychiatrist and director of the psychiatric hospital in Świecie.

Commemorative events will also take place in other cities across the region.

In Bydgoszcz, ceremonies will be held at the Monument to the Struggle and Martyrdom of the Bydgoszcz Region in the Old Market Square, at the Cemetery of the Heroes of Bydgoszcz on Wzgórze Wolności and at the cathedral; in Włocławek, at the Monument to the Polish Soldier in Wolności Square; and in Inowrocław, at the Monument to the Defenders of Inowrocław.

The Second World War (1939–1945), started by Nazi Germany, was the bloodiest armed conflict in world history. Sixty million people were killed, while a further 20 million died as a result of war-related disease and famine. The number of Polish victims is estimated at 6 million – 16 per cent of the country’s population.

Beata Krzemińska
Spokesperson for the Marshal’s Office

31 August 2026