Hundreds of thousands of Poles took part in a wide range of Independence Day celebrations and, as all the papers stress, the day has become a joyous occasion  attracting people of all age brackets.

Michal Kubicki reviews the press.

POLSKA has a photo of 82 year-old war veteran Jan Niedzwiecki, one of the five thousand participants in Warsaw’s Independence Run. In an interview with the tabloid SUPER EXPRESS, the historian Andrzej Kunert says that in 1918, after 123 years of the partitions, the nation demonstrated an incredible degree of wisdom, successfully tackling the enormous task of building almost from scratch the administrative and legal structures of the Polish state. GAZETA WYBORCZA stresses in its frontpage headline that former president Lech Walesa was not invited to a gala reception hosted by president Kaczynski. RZECZPOSPOLITA says in its comment that in his Independence Day address, president Kaczynski surprised most observers in a positive sense, stressing the achievements of the last two decades and focusing on what unites Poles rather than on what divides them.

RZECZPOSPOLITA runs a story on the latest report on gender equality compiled by the World Economic Forum. Poland is classified in 49th position among a list of 130 countries, an  improvement on last year’s 60th place, but a drop from two years ago when Poland came in at number 44. The Gender Gap Index indicates that women in Poland continue to have a very limited representation in Parliament and in ministerial posts, as well as earning less than men in similar positions.

Irena Sendler, the Polish woman who saved some two and a half thousand Jewish children from the Holocaust, died only six months ago and, as POLSKA reports, American film makers have already embarked on a large-scale production about her life and exploits. The Polish contribution to the project is confined to photography, design and one of the male leads, and POLSKA writes that it is high time Poles themselves should be making films about their history.