– Paying tribute to the heroes of the fight for a free homeland who were bestially murdered 70 years ago is a day when the Polish state fulfills its duty - said President Andrzej Duda during the ceremony of announcing the names of 12 more identified victims of totalitarianism.

On Friday, the Presidential Palace hosted an identification ceremony for family members of 12 victims of totalitarianism. The ceremony was attended by President Andrzej Duda, Marshals of the Sejm and Senate and representatives of the victims' families.

- This is how the Polish state restores its own dignity, that it remembers them, that it gives them back the honor that has always been their due. That is why today's ceremony is the beginning of this ceremony of honouring them, showing the dignity they carry in themselves. It is this state element, so important for the Republic of Poland - said President Andrzej Duda during the ceremony commemorating the victims of totalitarian regimes.

The identification notes were handed over by representatives of the Institute of National Remembrance to the families of the 12 victims whose remains were excavated during the archaeological exhumation works conducted by the Institute since 2012. DNA research has been carried out by geneticists from Szczecin, Wroclaw and Lublin, among others. The Institute of National Remembrance is searching for secret burial places of the victims of communist crimes all over Poland.

text: mon.gov.pl

photo: Lt. Robert Suchy/ CO MON