https://www2.polskieradio.pl/eo/dokument.aspx?iid=86483

Poland marks 65th anniversary of the death of General Sikorski

07.07.2008

Poland marked 65th anniversary of the death of the Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, general Wladyslaw Sikorski who led the Polish government in exile in Paris and later London after Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1939 took. The events included a celebratory mass and a groundbreaking ceremony for the Center for the Remembrance of General Sikorski and WW II soldiers to be built in his hometown of Tuszów Narodowy.  

Danuta Isler reports

General Wladyslaw Sikorski died on July 4th,1943 when his plane plunged into the sea off Gibraltar. His daughter, Chief of Staff and seven other passengers were killed. His death has attracted various conspiracy theories since no autopsy was conducted before the burial in England, nor when his remains were transferred to the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow in 1993. Although the official cause of the accident was plane malfunction there are many speculations that political issues played the main part. Professor Andrzej Olejko, a historian from Rzeszów explains

‘We still don't know whether it was the Russian or the British side that was involved in this assassination. Was it an assassination or simply an airplane catastrophe? Was it a coincidence that particular bodies from this accident were never recovered from the sea? There are many, many more questions in this respect.’ 

Speculations on general Sikorski’s death continue to stir many emotions. One of the former soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces in the West said that conspiracy theories appeared as soon as the sad news reached the soldiers.

‘The news about his death reached me while I was on ORP Krakowiak in Algiers. We heard it during supper time and as soon as we heard it many people started crying. Everyone kept saying that they killed our great leader.’

The events commemorating 65th anniversary of his tragic death included a celebratory mass and a groundbreaking ceremony for the Center for the Remembrance of General Sikorski and WW II soldiers to be built in his hometown of Tuszów Narodowy. Also, an exhibition called "General Wladyslaw Sikorski - a politician and a soldier" was opened at the foot of the Wawel Castle Hill in Krakow. Andrzej Suchcic is a historian from the London based Institute of General Wladyslaw Sikorski.

‘I think that general Sikorski is a living testimony to Poland's role in the WWII and his importance as a historical figure remains very strong to this day and I presume will remain so for generations to come. For many people he embodied Poland's will and determination to fight to the bitter end and to regain independence following the September 1939 defeat and as prime minister and as supreme commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces he was the embodiment of that will of the Polish nation.’

Sikorski's death is also one of the historical mysteries which still disturb Poles. The Institute of National Remembrance which probes into Nazi and communist crimes considers investigation into his. The idea of exhuming Sikorski's body is supported by many historians who point that it may be an opportunity to at least double check certain circumstances which are unclear. Andrzej Suchcic again.

‘It all depends on what they find, however, exhumation and examination by medical experts might be able to at least lay to rest the question of whether he was shot or not, murdered or not, by shooting or stabbing but speculation will then always remain whether the aircraft was not tampered with because the aircraft does not exist any more and it cannot be examined thoroughly.’

A controversial theory about General Wladyslaw Sikorski's death will also be portrayed in a TV series. The five part series will present a controversial theory that the general did not die in the plane crash near Gibraltar, but was murdered. The film is to be released next year.