On 3 September 2025, a ceremony took place in Orawka commemorating the heroic airmen of the 24th Reconnaissance Squadron, who 86 years earlier gave their lives in defence of the Homeland. The Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków was a partner of the ceremony. The institution was represented by Director Tomasz Kosecki, who laid a commemorative wreath at the obelisk.
3 September – it was on this very day, in 1939, that after completing a combat mission to bomb a German armoured column, the Polish aircraft PZL.23B Karaś, commanded by Lieutenant Aleksander Rudkowski with a crew consisting of: Second Lieutenant Tadeusz Prędecki and Corporal Rudolf Widuch, was shot down over Orawka.
The ceremony began with the singing of the National Anthem, the hoisting of the white-and-red flag and the entry of the Honour Company of the Polish Armed Forces provided by the 8th Kraków Air Transport Base. Standard-bearer guards representing Volunteer Fire Brigade units, schools from the Jabłonka Municipality and local associations were also present.
The unveiling of the monument and the commemorative plaque was performed by representatives of state and local government authorities. A particularly special moment of the event was the reading of the biographies of the fallen airmen and the Roll Call of Remembrance, concluded with an honour salvo.
A moving moment was the reading of the airmen’s life stories and the Roll Call of Remembrance, concluded with an honour salvo. After the official part, delegations laid flowers and wreaths, thus paying tribute to the soldiers who on 3 September 1939 died fighting for a free Poland. The organisers and residents of Orawka, who for generations have cared for the memory of this place and its history, received thanks for their commitment to preparing the ceremony.
Photo: Jabłonka Municipality
