Virtus et Fraternitas Medals Presented at Belweder Palace - Instytut Pileckiego

The President of the Republic of Poland has awarded the “Virtus et Fraternitas” Medal to 18 individuals from 7 countries: the Czech Republic, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Ukraine, Hungary, and Poland.

The ceremony to present the decoration, granted at the request of the Director of the Pilecki Institute for helping Polish citizens who were victims of Nazi and Soviet atrocities or other nationalistically motivated crimes in the 20th century, was held in the Belweder Palace on Thursday, 29 October. The Medals were presented by Minister Agnieszka Jędrzak, Undersecretary of State at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, on behalf of Dr. Karol Nawrocki, President of the Republic of Poland.

The ceremony was attended by the descendants and representatives of the Awarded and Rescued Families, officials from the embassies of the recipients’ home countries, as well as delegates of institutions which cooperate with the Pilecki Institute in documenting and commemorating the history of assistance given to Poles in the age of two totalitarianisms.

Dr. Karol Nawrocki, President of the Republic of Poland, addressed the participants of the ceremony in a letter read out by Minister Agnieszka Jędrzak, Undersecretary of State at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.

"Once again, at the initiative of the Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor, “Virtus et Fraternitas” Medals are being awarded to people of varying nationalities, faiths, and cultures, united by their extraordinary solidarity with Poles in need of help. There is another shared characteristic in the lives of most of those being honored: the discretion with which they performed their remarkable deeds, often out of concern for their own safety and that of those they helped. After so many years, that silence needed to be broken at last ­- wrote Dr. Karol Nawrocki, the President of the Republic of Poland.

"Today’s ceremony not only delivers posthumous historical justice to these modest individuals who played their part in history, it also provides a moment when, after many years, their voices can symbolically be heard. Today, their service is being acknowledged and brought to public attention in a fitting setting and with due ceremony. The Republic of Poland pays tribute to them, expressing its gratitude for the courage, selflessness, and Christian compassion with which they welcomed our compatriots, whom repression and fear of subjugation had driven from their homeland.

I am pleased that the number of recipients of the “Virtus et Fraternitas” Medal continues to grow, with further awards to individuals for whom courage and solidarity were the substance and purpose of life. May their deeds inspire us and future generations of Poles, while reminding us that even in the most difficult times, courage, solidarity, and fidelity to conscience allow us to preserve our humanity. Glory to the heroes!" – emphasized President Nawrocki.

During the ceremony at the Belweder, Karol Madaj, Director of the Pilecki Institute, took the floor.

"The 20th century went down in history as the epoch of two of the most destructive totalitarianisms known to man: German Nazism and Soviet Communism, whose leaders sought to subjugate other nations to their vision of the world. The activities of the Pilecki Institute focus precisely on researching the confrontation between the adherents of these ideologies and those who refused to conform. For this reason, one of the Institute’s main missions consists in honoring those who in the 20th century displayed valor and solidarity with the persecuted" – said Karol Madaj, Director of the Pilecki Institute. [...] "Bringing such heroes, many of whom are virtually unknown to the broader public, to the forefront also serves another, perhaps more consequential purpose, namely, reinforcing the attitudes that we, as Polish society, would like to promote and recognize as our own in times of trial.

Understandably, therefore, the elaboration and official submission of motions for bestowal of the Virtus et Fraternitas Medal holds a particularly important place among the Institute’s activities. The fact that the award is presented by the President of the Republic of Poland makes our efforts at once special and unique, as the very act of bestowal becomes an expression of respect and gratitude not only on the part of the Institute, but also on the part of the entire Polish state.[…] Today, a fresh group of heroes of the 20th century joins the exclusive circle of Recipients of the Virtus et Fraternitas Medal – heroes from whom we can draw inspiration and learn lessons for the future" - emphasized Director Madaj

A speech of thanks on behalf of the Recipients was delivered by Koichiro Hirayama, a representative of the family of Narinobu Hirayama, the president of the Japanese Red Cross Society and honorary member of the Polish Relief Committee for Children of the Far East, who was awarded for helping Polish children evacuated from Siberia in the years 1919–1922. Jerzy Jeżewicz, a representative of former prisoners of the German camp for Polish children at Przemysłowa Street in Łódź (Polen-Jugendverwahrlager der Sicherheitspolizei in Litzmannstadt) who were rescued by the Medal Recipient Emil Vogl, spoke on behalf of the Rescued.

Recipients of the “Virtus et Fraternitas” Medal in 2026

In 2026, the “Virtus et Fraternitas” Medals were awarded to 18 individuals from 7 countries. These persons were recognized for their exceptional dedication to selfless aid to Polish adults and children during various periods of the 20th century and across three continents. The Recipients are:

Tadanori Ishiguro, Narinobu Hirayama, Fumi Matsuzawa (Japan), as well as Anna Bielkiewicz and Józef Jakóbkiewicz (Poland) – in the years 1919–1922, with the support of Japan’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs and War, as well as the Japanese Red Cross Society, they rescued 765 Polish children from Siberia and Manchuria, which were ravaged by the revolution and the civil war. Most of the children were orphans, who – following several months of recovery and rest in Japan – were finally able to return to Poland. Especially touching is the story of Fumi Matsuzawa, a 20-year-old nurse, who dedicated herself to the care of the gravely ill Polish children. While all her patients survived, she herself contracted typhus and died.

Klára Andrássy Odescalchi (Hungary) – in the years 1939–1941, she was the co-founder and vice chair of the Hungarian-Polish Refugee Welfare Committee, which provided large-scale aid to thousands of refugees from occupied Poland and secretly evacuated Polish soldiers to the West. Threatened with German reprisals for her activities, she was forced to leave Hungary. During the evacuation, she was killed in an air raid during the German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941.

Lorna Bale and Ann Jacques (New Zealand) – in December 1941, they founded the Polish Army League to offer moral and material support to Polish soldiers, who fought alongside New Zealanders in the Middle East and Italy. Nearly 8,000 soldiers found themselves under their care. The League, which had approx. 6,000 members, continued its operations until 1946. It also contributed to the welcoming of Polish orphans from the USSR in 1944 and the establishment of a camp for them in Pahiatua.

Adolf Dahl, Hans Dahl and Niels Jørgensen (Norway) – as members of the Norwegian resistance, in the summer of 1942 they twice helped Polish prisoners of war who had escaped from camps in attempts to cross to Sweden. The first pair of Poles safely reached their destination, but the next action ended in failure. Two Poles were captured by the Germans, and the Norwegians themselves were arrested and placed in a camp for six months. Following their release, they continued working for the resistance movement.

Maria Trojan, Stefania Mudra and Maria Trojan (Ukraine) – a Ukrainian Maria Trojan (née Stroczan) married a Pole, Paweł Trojan, with whom she had two daughters: Maria and Stefania (who married Michał Mudry). In 1940, the women were deported to Kazakhstan, where they took care of a Polish boy, Bogumił Hałaciński, whose father perished at Katyn and mother died in exile. In 1944, when the women obtained permission to return home, they illegally took Bogumił with them, enabling the boy to go back to Poland.

Emil Vogl (Czech Republic) – a descendant of a German family of Jewish origin that had settled in the Czech lands, this doctor from Prague was deported to the Łódź Ghetto in 1941. In 1943, he was transferred to the German camp for Polish children at Przemysłowa Street in Łódź (Polen-Jugendverwahrlager der Sicherheitspolizei in Litzmannstadt), where typhus was spreading rapidly. Thanks to the dedication of Emil Vogl, the outbreak was contained. Risking his own life, he organized the smuggling of much-needed medicines into the camp. In August 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz, and then to other camps. He managed to survive. After the war, as part of the so-called Akce Zámky, he helped children of various nationalities returning from concentration camps.

Zofia Teliga (Poland) – a resident of Volhynia, she was deported to the Arkhangelsk Oblast in the far north of the USSR in 1940. Following the “amnesty” of 1941, she made her way to Anders’ Army in Central Asia. She organized the care and evacuation of Polish children. She also headed the Polish children’s home in Turkestan. She stayed in the USSR until 1945, dedicating her efforts to aiding Polish exiles – she helped about 250,000 Poles return to their homeland. After the war, she herself went back to Poland. In the 1990s, she was still effectively working towards the repatriation of Poles from Kazakhstan.

Erling Berg and Leif Myklebust (Norway) – facing compulsory labor mobilization under the German occupation, in the summer of 1944 they decided to leave Norway for neutral Sweden. While crossing the mountains, they met a seriously injured Pole, Michał Nowacki, who had escaped with a group of fellow inmates from a German camp in Fauske, north of the Arctic Circle, and was also headed to Sweden. Left behind by his colleagues, who were supposed to bring help, Nowacki had been alone for a week and had run out of food four days earlier. The Norwegians fed him and took him with them. After a day’s march, they reached a Swedish military post and called for a medical aircraft, which took the Pole to a hospital.

Detailed information about the Medal Recipients can be found in the appendices (a commemorative booklet and biographies of the Recipients) at the bottom of the page and at the link. 

About the “Virtus et Fraternitas” Medal

The “Virtus et Fraternitas” Medal is awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland to persons who distinguished themselves in aiding Poles or Polish citizens of other nationalities who were victims of Soviet or German Nazi crimes, of crimes motivated by nationalism, or of other criminal acts constituting crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, or war crimes, committed between 8 November 1917 and 31 July 1990. The decoration may also be awarded to persons who seek to commemorate these victims. The “Virtus et Fraternitas” Medal is a token of remembrance and gratitude to foreigners who brought aid to Polish victims, provided shelter, shared food, issued false documents, sought better conditions in refugee camps or documented wartime campaigns.

Candidates for the decoration are presented to the President of the Republic of Poland by the Director of the Pilecki Institute after receiving a positive opinion from the institution’s Council of Memory and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The “Virtus et Fraternitas Medal” has been awarded since 2019. To date, it has been presented to 78 people from 15 different countries. Today, the Medal Recipients have been joined by 18 more persons from 7 countries: the Czech Republic, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Ukraine, Hungary, and Poland.

Outdoor exhibition Recipients of the Virtus et Fraternitas Medal 2026

The award ceremony is accompanied by an outdoor exhibition at 15 Krakowskie Przedmieście Street, which presents the biographies of the Recipients and the stories of their assistance to Poles.

The exhibition is available for viewing between 29 October and 18 November.

Video recording of the awards ceremony [Oct. 29, Belvedere]

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