Warsaw marks anniversary of Uprising as veterans demand national holiday

Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek yesterday afternoon attended a ceremony in front of the Gloria Victis monument in the Powazkowski Cemetery, to mark the 57th anniversary of the start of the Warsaw Uprising. At 5pm, sirens sounded across the city. But only a few pedestrians could be seen marking the event with a minute's silence. Buses, trams and cars continued to run through the streets. Earlier in the day, politicians, members of veterans' organizations, and Warsaw citizens attended a noon ceremony of changing the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. Representatives of the surviving insurgents had earlier in the week called on the Sejm to make August 1 a national holiday in view of the Uprising's importance, so that it would be marked not only in Warsaw, but across the whole country. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A3) K.K.