Flowers were laid at the monument commemorating Ryszard Siwiec's dramatic protest against the Soviet aggression against Czechoslovakia. Among those paying tribute to the hero were Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchcinski, Anita Czerwinska, Law and Justice candidate in the parliamentary elections, and representatives of the Czech and Slovak authorities. 

“Ryszard Siwiec died on September 12, 1968 in the Praga Hospital in Warsaw. Four days earlier, during a national harvest festival, Siwiec scattered leaflets with a protest appeal, doused himself with solvent, and set himself on fire. The event was witnessed by communist dignitaries, diplomats and 100,000 spectators. While burning, he shouted "I protest!" and refused to let anyone put out the flames. "Come to your senses! Hear my cry," he wrote in a leaflet about the protest” – Gazeta Polska Codziennie wrote yesterday.

"Siwiec's self-immolation was an act of protest against the pacification by the Soviets in August 1968 of Czechoslovakia's attempt to liberalize the communist regime, the so-called Prague Spring. On the night of August 20-21, 1968, more than half a million troops of the Communist bloc countries entered Czechoslovakia, including 25,000 soldiers of the so-called People's Polish Army, which collaborated with the Soviets. More than 100 people died then."

In front of the National Stadium in Warsaw stands a monument commemorating this heroic act. This is where the tribute to Ryszard Siwiec was paid today.

– We remember the sacrifice of Ryszard Siwiec. Together with young Czechs living in Poland - Anita Czerwińska, the head of Warsaw's Polish Newspaper Club and a Law and Justice candidate in the parliamentary elections, tells the portal niezalezna.pl. - Our common memory is a bridge of understanding, which we Poles and Czechs need very much. We promised ourselves that next year we will meet in the same place, but in a larger group.

Flowers were also laid by representatives of the Czech and Slovak authorities. Michal Rysavy from the Embassy of the Czech Republic and Karol Smetana from the Slovak Embassy were present.

Source: http://m.niezalezna.pl/
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