Poland currently recognises 14 public holidays, three of which are also observed as days off. Numerous other holidays and days of remembrance do not carry the status of public holidays. However, MPs continue to propose new commemorative days.

Parliamentarians from the Civic Coalition have submitted a draft resolution to the Sejm to designate 22 September as the Day of Remembrance for Victims of the Extermination of People with Mental Disorders. This day would honour the thousands of patients in Polish psychiatric hospitals who were exterminated by the Nazis during World War II.

Piotr Adamowicz, a Civic Coalition (KO) deputy from Gdańsk and representative of the bill's proposers, spoke to ‘Rzeczpospolita’ about the initiative. He recalled that he had proposed a similar bill during the first term of the Law and Justice government, stating: "The Polish Psychiatric Association requested that I make another attempt. I believe it is the right thing to do, as the tragedy faced by people with mental disorders is not widely known. The older generation is aware of it primarily because of the film ‘Hospital of the Transfiguration'."

This is not the only new holiday proposed during the current Sejm term. In November, MPs from the Left party submitted a bill to establish a Day of President Gabriel Narutowicz, to be celebrated on 16 December, marking the anniversary of the assassination of Poland's first president. The Sovereign Poland party has also proposed a National Day of the Zamojskie Uprising and Remembrance of the Children of Zamojszczyzna.

Several other unofficial ideas have also been floated but have not yet reached the legislative stage. For instance, Barbara Oliwiecka, an MP from the Third Way party, is advocating for establishing a Civil Society Day, to be celebrated on 15 October, coinciding with the anniversary of the last parliamentary elections. There is also a petition submitted to Parliament by Sylwia Spurek of the Wiosna party to create a Day of Remembrance for Victims of Gender-Based Violence.

Source: rp.pl