Jerzy Chrabąszcz
Class 5b
What do the mass graves tell us?
All Saints’ Day is a celebration of the dead [sic!]. It is the day when we go to cemeteries to honor the memory of our deceased relatives, friends and acquaintances. Nowadays, in our modern Poland, the graves are not limited to the cemeteries. Many of the graves – mass graves – can be found all over the country in the forests, in the fields, in the streets of cities. People who died for their nation are buried there. Some fought the enemy, gun in hand. Others were tormented to death in prisons and camps. Still others were thrown out of their homes – they [were] often innocent, [but] they were killed out of revenge. There are also those who died for Poland, fighting in the ranks of the Polish army. We do not know their names or surnames; we do not know where they come from or where their families [live]. We only know that they died for a great cause – to liberate our country. Their graves speak distinctly to us. They gave our nation freedom, but they died in doing so. We must honor their memory and what they gave us, that is our country; we must enrich ourselves with hard work and learning and make sure that the horrors of the last war are never repeated. Memory of them will remain with us for the ages.