One hundred years ago Spisz, a beautiful Polish-Slovak borderland, returned to Poland. The ceremony, which took place in Łapsze Niżne, cultivates identity, faith and culture, and the unique atmosphere of the place is emphasised by the presence of mountain peaks.
After the Mass in the chapel at St. Quirin church, flowers were laid on the grave of Jozef Wismierski, a teacher from Lviv, one of the Polish plebiscite activists who paid with his life for his efforts to make Spiš a Polish state. A commemorative photograph was also unveiled. It depicts Wojciech Halczyn, a Spiszak born in Lendak, who together with other Orava citizens - Fr Ferdynand Machay and Piotr Borowy - represented Polish interests at the conference in Paris.
From the church all gathered went to the building of the Municipal Office in Łapsze Niżne, where the commemorative book was unveiled on the obelisk commemorating the 100th anniversary of rebirth of the Republic of Poland. Delegations laid flowers and delivered commemorative speeches. At the end of the ceremony the premiere of the film "Right to Poland" directed by Dariusz Walusiak took place in the tent near the municipal office.
The collapse of the partitioning states in 1918 and the rebirth of the Republic of Poland was only the beginning of the struggle for national borders. The main areas of the dispute with Czechoslovakia were Zaolzie and Spisz and Orava. In 1920, when the Bolshevik army was approaching Warsaw, Poles had to abandon the plebiscite plan and accept the decision of the Council of Ambassadors. On 28 July 1920, we were granted only a dozen or so Spiš villages.
source: ipn.gov.pl
