On Monday, in Manhattan, New York, ceremonies are held to commemorate nearly three thousand people who died 22 years ago in the attack by Islamic terrorists on the World Trade Center towers. It was the largest terrorist attack that took place on US territory, and Poles were also killed.
The solemn ceremony at Ground Zero was attended by the families of the victims, as well as politicians, who, however, did not deliver any speeches. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, New York Mayor Eric Adams and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul were in attendance.
Traditionally, the bells of St. Cathedral rang out. Patrick and other temples. Representatives of the families of the deceased read the names of the victims, interrupted by moments of silence. They also commemorated those who died in the attack on the Pentagon on the same day and those who crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in the fourth plane hijacked by terrorists while trying to incapacitate the attackers. The victims of the attack on the WTC in 1993 were also remembered.
Hochul ordered flags to be lowered to half-mast in government buildings on Monday. 16 structures, including the Empire State Building, Penn Station and the Kosciuszko Bridge, will be illuminated in blue.
At dusk, floodlights will be turned on, creating two 6.5 km-high columns of light symbolizing the demolished skyscrs. They will be extinguished at dawn on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the eve of September 11, at Ground Zero, wreaths were laid by the permanent representative of the Republic of Poland to the United Nations, Krzysztof Szczerski, and the consul general of the Republic of Poland in New York, Adrian Kubicki, in front of the only survivor of the attacks, the Tree of Life.
“It was an event that changed the face of the world. It was difficult to imagine then that a terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda, could carry out an attack so sophisticated in its cruelty in such a precisely planned manner and in such a logistically complex operation. It destroyed the buildings of the World Trade Center and caused thousands of deaths,” the consul told PAP.
He recalled that Polish citizens also sacrificed their lives during the tragedy.
“There were eight of them, but also a dozen or so people of Polish origin. Later, entire crowds of people who sacrificed themselves by taking part in the long rescue operation and clearing the rubble from the area lost their lives. Even today, after 22 years, as a result of inhaling dust and long stay in extremely difficult conditions at Ground Zero, many people struggle with diseases, mainly of the respiratory system,” Kubicki emphasized.
He reminded about many Polish representatives of uniformed services, firefighters and policemen who are still paying the high price of heroic rescue operations in a toxic environment after the destruction of the WTC towers.
“September 11 is connected with the tragic Polish theme. It is our duty to remember this,” said Consul Kubicki.
From New York Andrzej Dobrowolski (PAP)
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