On Saturday, 6 September 2025, patriotic and religious ceremonies were held at the Treblinka Museum in honour of the Victims of the Treblinka camps and of the Second World War.
The gathering began at the Gravel Pit – the site of the forced labour of prisoners from Treblinka I – with the Stations of the Cross led by Rev. Canon Józef Poskrobko, parish priest of Prostyń. Afterwards, the participants proceeded to the Execution Site, where a Catholic Mass was celebrated, presided over by Bishop Piotr Sawczuk.
During his homily, the bishop delivered the following words:
The ground on which we stand hides the bodies and ashes of hundreds of thousands of people, murdered as a result of the brutal actions inspired by a criminal ideology. Human life meant nothing to it; only the fulfilment of the plan to conquer the world and subject it to the power of the so-called master race mattered. Other people were granted the right to live only as long as they were useful for forced labour. In the Nazi vocabulary, there was no notion of human dignity, the right to self-determination, the right to freedom, or even the right to life. The twentieth century is a period marked by the horror of world wars that claimed the lives of millions.
This year, numerous families of former prisoners of the Treblinka I Labour Camp were in attendance.
The ceremony was attended by:
– Józef Maliński – representative of the Association of Combatants of the Republic of Poland and Former Political Prisoners from the branch in Stoczek Węgrowski, and Righteous Among the Nations;
– Robert Mamątow, Senator of the Republic of Poland, together with his wife;
– Jacek Odziemczyk and Sylwester Rytel-Andrianik, councillors of the Sokołów District Council, representing Senator Waldemar Kraska;
– Alicja Cichoń, Head of the Delegation of the Mazovian Voivodeship Office in Siedlce;
– On behalf of Adam Struzik, Marshal of the Mazovian Voivodeship, Roman Adamczyk, Senior Specialist in the Marshal’s Chancellery of the Mazovian Voivodeship Office in Warsaw;
– Ewa Olszewska, member of the Sokołów District Board;
– Jan Słomiak, Mayor of the Town and Municipality of Kosów Lacki, Anna Maliszewska, Deputy Chairwoman of the Town and Municipal Council, and Urszula Wesołowska, Head of the Organisational and Social Department of the Town and Municipal Office in Kosów Lacki;
– Apolonia Stasiuk, Head of Repki Commune;
– Piotr Krzepicki, Chairman of the Council of Małkinia Górna Commune, Ewa Szymanik, Head of the Education Department, and Urszula Rytel, Head of the Promotion Department;
– Members of the Museum Council of the Treblinka Museum, led by Prof. Dr. Hab. Zofia Chyra-Rolicz;
– Stanisław Stankiewicz, President of the Central Council of Roma, member of the Museum Council of the Treblinka Museum;
– Artur Ziontek, representative of the Municipal Cultural Centre in Kosów Lacki, member of the Museum Council of the Treblinka Museum;
– The 22nd Military Cartographic Centre in Komorowo, led by Lt. Col. Rafał Majbański;
– Zbigniew Siemko, Commander of the Warsaw Region of the Railway Security Guard;
– Adam Wujek, Head of the village of Prostyń;
– Oksana Żochowska, Head of the village of Poniatowo;
– Grzegorz Wodziński, representative of the Pawiak Prison Museum, a branch of the Museum of Independence;
– Bożena Lińska, Director of the Public Library in Małkinia Górna;
– Motorcycle Club Association “Stajnia”;
– Jerzy Tomczuk, Sokołów Forest District, son of a former prisoner of the Labour Camp;
– The Salesian School Complex in Sokołów Podlaski with their standard, led by Headmaster Rev. Mariusz Skawiński and teachers;
– The Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński Primary School in Kosów Lacki with their standard, led by Deputy Head Beata Choińska;
– The School Complex in Kosów Lacki with their standard, led by Headmistress Hanna Przesmycka;
– The John Paul II Primary School in Prostyń with their standard, led by Headmistress Agnieszka Steć and teachers;
– Primary School No. 1 named after Maria Curie-Skłodowska in Małkinia Górna with their standard, led by Headmaster Waldemar Skurzyński;
– Primary School No. 2 named after Fryderyk Chopin in Małkinia with their standards, including the banner entrusted by the Home Army “Opocznik” district, led by Headmistress Marta Jasionek;
– The Stanisław Staszic School Complex in Małkinia Górna with their standard, led by Headmistress Agnieszka Gaś, Wojciech Hadała, and Piotr Piechowicz;
– The Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński Primary School in Kiełczew with their standard, led by Headmaster Andrzej Koroś;
– The Rev. Jan Twardowski Primary School in Glinia with their standard, led by Headmistress Justyna Brzozowska;
– Primary School No. 2 named after Janusz Korczak in Łochów with their standard, led by Headmistress Renata Jaczewska;
– The Public Primary School named after Janusz Korczak in Jasienica with their standard and teachers;
– The Primary School in Orło with their standard, led by Headmistress Małgorzata Dmochowska;
– Scouts and Cubs of the ZHP Scout Troop named after Janusz Korczak in Sokołów Podlaski with their standard, led by Commander Sławomir Pasik;
– The “Zenit” Scout Troop from Małkinia Górna Commune, led by Scoutmaster Ewa Roguska and Bartłomiej Sienicki;
– The Senior Citizens’ Club of Sadowne;
– Representatives of the media and local press.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, an artistic performance was presented by the Belfers Band.
As part of the ceremony, the open-air exhibition “The Black Road and the Gravel Pit at the Treblinka Memorial Site” was presented. The exhibition consisted of ten panels, and its curator, Anna Remiszewska, recounted the history of the Gravel Pit and the Black Road.
The Museum’s Director, Dr. Edward Kopówka, thanked all participants and institutions supporting the preparation of the ceremony, including: the District Police Headquarters in Sokołów Podlaski, the State Fire Service Headquarters in Sokołów Podlaski, the Volunteer Fire Brigade from Kosów Lacki, the RM-MEDITRANS Independent Public Healthcare Centre in Sokołów Podlaski, soldiers of the 22nd Military Cartographic Centre in Komorowo, as well as the Scouts and Cubs. He also invited the participants to return next year.
The gathering concluded with the laying of wreaths and the lighting of candles at the monuments within the Execution Site.
