In preparation for the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on 19 April 2023, Natolin students were privileged to meet with Ms Krystyna BUDNICKA, one of the very few Survivors of this dramatic event. The meeting was organised on Saturday 15 April 2023 by the European Civilization Chair of the College of Europe in Natolin.
Ms Krystyna BUDNICKA (Hena KUCZER), born in 1932, was 11 years old at the time of the Uprising. As a little girl, the youngest of all her siblings, she was lovingly protected by family members and friends. She survived thanks to them, even though her relatives were less lucky.
The meeting was a rare opportunity to hear a unique eyewitness testimony of inner strength and will to live. Ms BUDNICKA shared with Natolin students and staff her experiences as a civilian in hiding during the Uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto.
About the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
This year the world commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Uprising and pays tribute to those who arose against injustice for dignity. Every year on 19 April, the POLIN Museum, telling the 1000-year history of the Polish Jews, hosts the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Campaign in order to encourage communities around the world to learn about the events that took place on 19 April 1943.
The current symbol of remembrance of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is the paper daffodil, which people wear on the 19th of April.
Why daffodils?
They are associated with Marek EDELMAN, the last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, who used to receive a bouquet of yellow daffodils from an anonymous person every year on April 19. He would lay them at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in memory of those who fought and died. Edelman, who remained in Poland after the war, passed away in 2009. On this day, the POLIN Museum and its volunteers hand out thousands of yellow paper daffodils on the streets of Warsaw and many other cities worldwide.
The College of Europe in Natolin is proud to take part in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Campaign 2023 by encouraging Natolin students to learn more about this tragic event and, in doing so, better understand the past and present of Warsaw and its Jewish citizens.
#RememberingTogether #WarsawGhettoUprising
Watch "There Was No Hope", a film about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising produced by POLIN Museum.