News

At a commemorative event dedicated to the 78th anniversary of the flight of Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas across the Atlantic Ocean on 17 July in Poland, Szczecin, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Egidijus Meilūnas said that the remembrance and honouring of the deed by the pilots was not just an important sign of respect, but also a source of resolution and inspiration for the creation of the future.

Flower wreaths were brought to the Cathedral Church of St.Jacob in Szczecin, where a memorial plaque was unveiled in honour of S.Darius and S.Girėnas in 2008. Afterwards, a solemn Mass was celebrated and a commemoration took place in the forest of Pscelnik near Myslibusz city, where the Lithuanian pilots were killed in 1933.

Representatives of Lithuania and Poland gave speeches emphasizing that the deed by the Lithuanian pilots set an example of self-sacrifice and love for homeland. They stressed that the new generations in Lithuania and Poland had considered S.Darius and S.Girėnas as their ideals even today.

“This is an example of how the two neighbouring nations, the Catholic nations that share same values can unite and mourn together in such tragic moments. Even today we are witnessing that not just the locals, but also people from Szczecin come to pay tribute to S.Darius and S.Girėnas and to the people of Lithuania,” E.Meilūnas said.

After the Mass in the Lithuanian language, which was celebrated by Kęstutis Genys, a priest from Kaunas, he also consecrated Lithuanian column-like wayside wooden shrines that mark the path towards the monument to S.Darius and S.Girėnas. The shrines were carved from wood by a group of Lithuanian sculptors under the leadership of Algimantas Sakalauskas.

The award of honour of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – “Lithuanian Diplomacy Star” – was conferred on the Chief Inspector of the Lubusz Voivodeship Leszek Wiktor Bończuk for his long-term promotion of the Lithuanian culture and the perpetuation of history.

The commemoration was organized by the Municipality of the Myslibusz city, Poland’s Lithuanian community in Szczecin and the Lithuanian Embassy in Poland.