Veterans Day in Poland Date in the current year: September 1, 2024

Veterans Day (Dzień Weterana) was established on April 25, 1997 according to an amendment to the law on veterans and victims of repression during the war and post-war period. September 1 was chosen as the date because on this day in 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and the Second World War began.

Since new amendments to the law were made in 2014, Veterans Day has been officially called Day of Veterans of the Independence Struggle (Dzień Weterana Walk o Niepodległość Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej). On this day, citizens of Poland honor the defenders of the homeland and remember those who gave their lives for Poland during the Second World War.

Poland was one of the first countries that entered World War II because the European theatre of the war opened with the German invasion of Poland. Poles provided significant contributions to the Allied effort throughout the war even after Poland had been occupied. Polish forces fought in France, Norway, Syria, Egypt, Libya, the UK, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. Besides, there were Polish resistance groups.