Warsaw will activate its siren system on Sunday at noon, coinciding with anniversary ceremonies at the Ghetto Heroes Monument.
Siren Activation and Commemoration
On Sunday at 12:00 PM, Warsaw’s siren system will be activated throughout the city, emitting a continuous one-minute signal. This is not a drill.
The activation coincides with the main anniversary ceremonies taking place at the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto.
Three Million Daffodils Distributed
Volunteers will distribute the three-millionth daffodil as part of the 14th annual Daffodil Action. Paper flowers will be given to passersby.
Those wearing a daffodil on April 19th will receive free admission to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
POLIN Museum Director on the Daffodil Action
Dariusz Stola, Director of the POLIN Museum, stated at a press conference that the Daffodil Action has reached millions of people in over 50 countries worldwide.
He emphasized the action’s purpose is to commemorate both the events of 1943 and the entire history of Jews in Warsaw, a city that was a significant cultural and religious center for Polish Jews.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising lasted from April 19th to May 16th, 1943, marking the first urban uprising in Nazi-occupied Europe.
The uprising was triggered by the German decision to liquidate the ghetto as part of the plan to exterminate European Jews. Jewish underground organizations initiated an armed revolt.
Resistance and Aftermath
Poorly armed fighters from the Jewish Combat Organization and the Jewish Military Union resisted over two thousand German soldiers for nearly a month. Twelve thousand Jews were killed or murdered during the uprising.
The majority of the 60,000 people remaining in the ghetto were deported to the Majdanek concentration camp or German labor camps.
The Daffodil as a Symbol
The daffodil became a symbol of the uprising in memory of Marek Edelman, one of its leaders, who survived the revolt. Each year, Edelman would lay a bouquet of yellow flowers at the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto in Muranów.
Stola added, “All of this is possible thanks to people of good will who have become involved in the Daffodil Action.”
