“Bydgoszcz returned to Poland not through a violent gesture, but through the order of restored justice,” said Deputy Voivode Piotr Hemmerling during the ceremonies marking the 106th anniversary of Bydgoszcz’s return to Poland. When Poland declared independence on 11 November 1918, Bydgoszcz, Pomerania, and Greater Poland were under German control, and the future of these lands was uncertain. For this reason, January 1920 plays a more important role in the history of Bydgoszcz.

The celebrations of the 106th anniversary of Bydgoszcz’s return to the Motherland began with a Holy Mass at the Bydgoszcz Cathedral, after which a Polish Army honor guard brought the standard onto the Old Market Square. This was the same place that, 106 years ago, witnessed great euphoria and the welcoming of the units of Colonel Bernard Śliwiński, who had distinguished themselves on the battlefields of the Greater Poland Uprising. Those moments are reconstructed in our film material using archival photographs enhanced with artificial intelligence.

“There are moments in history that do not need raised voices. They speak for themselves through time, through consequences, through endurance. Today’s anniversary is just such a moment,” emphasized Deputy Voivode Hemmerling, adding that Bydgoszcz’s return to Poland represented the “order of restored justice.” It should be remembered that from the 18th century, when Bydgoszcz was taken over by Prussia as part of the First Partition of Poland, generations of Polish residents of Bydgoszcz fought to preserve the Polish character of the city. This was not easy, as aggressive colonization policies meant that Poles became a minority. After 11 November 1918, when a socialist revolution was sweeping through Germany, Polish residents of Bydgoszcz organized themselves, took part in the Greater Poland District Parliament in December 1918, and at the end of that year the Greater Poland Uprising broke out, involving many people from Bydgoszcz. Subsequent events and the peace conference in Paris led to Bydgoszcz’s return to Poland in January 1920.

The later part of the ceremony included the solemn reading of the roll of the fallen, a honor volley, and the traditional laying of wreaths.

It is also worth recalling the date of 22 January, which is rarely mentioned in Bydgoszcz. On that day, the commander-in-chief of the Greater Poland Uprising, General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, and Minister Leon Janta-Połczyński arrived in the city. It was then that Bydgoszcz was formally incorporated into Poland.