Ceremony of Planting a Memorial Oak Dedicated to Captain Jan Rapcewicz
On 2 October 2025, a ceremony marking the planting of a Memorial Oak dedicated to Captain Jan Rapcewicz took place in front of School Complex No. 1 named after Captain Witold Pilecki in Ostrów Mazowiecka. Captain Rapcewicz was an officer of the Polish Army, Commander of the Military Training Organisation in Ostrów Mazowiecka and Sokołów Podlaski, who was murdered by the NKVD in Katyn in the spring of 1940. The event was organised as part of the nationwide educational programme “Katyń… Saving from Oblivion”.
The Memorial Oak was planted jointly by Bartłomiej Pieńkowski, Deputy Head of Ostrów County, Sebastian Karwat, Director of the Katyn Museum, and Piotr Siwek, Headmaster of the school. The symbolic tree will serve as a lasting reminder for future generations of the life and service of Captain Jan Rapcewicz, as well as of the thousands of Polish officers murdered in the Katyn Massacre.
The ceremony formed part of the school’s Patron’s Day celebrations. After laying flowers and lighting candles at the monument to Captain Witold Pilecki, the students presented an artistic performance entitled “Memory Cannot Be Erased…”, dedicated to the importance of historical remembrance and the responsibility to pass on the truth about the past to future generations.
The planting of the Memorial Oak stands as a lasting tribute to Captain Jan Rapcewicz and an expression of respect for all victims of the Katyn Massacre. Initiatives of this kind not only commemorate the individual lives of Polish officers but also foster historical awareness and reinforce the responsibility to preserve the memory of the victims of Soviet terror.
