Far-right activists commemorate Polish anti-communist militants accused of genocide





Around 300 far right activists marched in the eastern Polish town of Hajnowka on Saturday (February 23) to commemorate the 'Cursed Soldiers', a group of militants revered as patriots by some and seen as murderers by others.

Adam Andruszkiewicz denies accusations on falsifying signatures for local elections The investigation... czytaj dalej » Due to their resistance at the end of World War Two, the Cursed Soldiers are seen as a model of patriotism for nationalist groups as well as by Poland's ruling conservative Law and Justice Party.

But Romuald Rajs, one of the leaders of the group known under his nom de guerre of 'Bury', was sentenced to death for killing some 80 villagers of Belorussian origin in villages near Hajnowka.

A counter-protest was also held in Hajnowka on Saturday, attended by the town's mayor who tried to have the annual march cancelled but was overruled by a court challenge.

In the nearby hamlet of Zaleszany, gravestones mark the burial sites of those killed in the 1946 massacre, including women and children.