MONTE CASSINO, Italy — Polish veterans of the bloody Monte Cassino battle gathered this week near the Benedictine abbey to remember the fallen and celebrate a victory that marked a turning point in World War II.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski placed a candle at the nearby wartime cemetery at the start of the three-hour ceremony in Monte Cassino, about 100 miles south of Rome, where 1,052 of his countrymen are buried.
"The battle of Monte Cassino was a lesson in patriotism and national pride," he told the crowd of about 2,000 people Tuesday, mainly veterans with their families. "It strengthened the Poles in the conviction that we can rise to steadfast deeds and that we merit a better fate."
Many prayed by the graves of their loved ones. A lighted candle and a Polish flag stood by each of the crosses marking the graves, and a rosary hung from many of them. Many veterans, sporting their war medals, had tears in their eyes.
"People today call us heroes, but we were just well-trained soldiers," said Henryk Skrzyoinski, a veteran who was an 18-year-old private at the time of the battle. "We were thinking: 'Don't be stupid, don't let them kill you.' "
The 2nd Polish Corps hoisted the Polish flag over the ruins of the abbey in the morning of May 18, 1944, after German forces had been driven out — and after about five months of battle.
The victory was key to the Allies because it led to the linkup with their forces farther north in Anzio and opened the way to Rome, which was eventually taken less than a month later on June 4, 1944.
It was also key to restoring a sense of pride to the Poles, many said Tuesday.
"We wanted to show the Allies and the whole world that Poland was still alive. Poland is not lost as long as we live," recalled the veteran Skrzyoinski.
The city of Cassino, which sits at the foot of the mountain housing the monastery and was also destroyed by Allied bombing and then reconstructed, marked the 60th anniversary of the battle with a weeklong series celebrations, which began Sunday.
The battle of Monte Cassino was really a series of battles fought over months. The fourth offensive, led by the Poles, was the decisive one — but it came at a high price. Thousands were killed during the campaign, mainly from infantry divisions.
By the time the offensive started in February 1944, Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini had already surrendered and Italy has signed the armistice with the Allied forces. But Nazis still had a grip in the north of the country and showed no sign of a letup.
The Germans had holed themselves up in the abbey at the top of the 1,750-foot mountain, an imposing, fortress-like building that was first erected in 529 by St. Benedict and was a main center for spreading Christianity in the Middle Ages.
From the mountaintop, the Nazis had a privileged point of observation, because they overlooked the only possible passage to Rome — the ancient road built by Romans centuries before.
The abbey was destroyed by Allied forces in February, but it wasn't taken until months later.
"We entered silently, we were still afraid," recalled Michele Lejczak, now 84, among the first ones to enter. "Finally after two hours we hoisted our flag."