The Gloria Victis monument, birch crosses, and hundreds of insurrectionists’ graves at the Powązki Cemetery recall the Uprising revolt. NIK President Marian Banaś laid flowers and lit candles at the monument. He also laid red roses and lit candles on the insurrectionists’ graves. They bring back the memory of thousands of the fallen and murdered during the Warsaw Uprising.
On 1 August 1944, the greatest independence rebellion in Germany-occupied Europe broke out. The Polish Underground State prepared for that operation for years of occupation. About 20-30 thousand mainly young people stood up for the fight. After a few days of success, the Germans brought in reinforcements to Warsaw. Civilians started to be murdered on a massive scale. The Polish insurrectionists could not stand up to the German air forces, heavy artillery, and tanks. Despite the unlimited devotion of the Polish side, the Warsaw Uprising failed after 63 days.
There is a place in Warsaw which inseparably binds the Supreme Audit Office with the Polish Underground State. The façade of the NIK headquarters features symbols of Fighting Poland: anchors painted during the war. In tribute to the Uprising soldiers and civil inhabitants of Warsaw, NIK President Marian Banaś laid a wreath with the Latin motto of the city of Warsaw: Semper Invicta [Always Undefeated]. The painting of the anchors was an act of great courage. It was under the eye of the German guards because during the war the building housed the Office of the Governor of the Warsaw District.
History of discovering anchors on the walls of NIK
