THE Polish flag was fluttering over Redditch town hall to celebrate Polish Heritage Weekend this Saturday and Sunday (May 6-7).
The occasion brings together a number of special dates for the Polish people including it proclaiming the first codified constitution in Europe – and the second in the world after the United States.
By raising the flag the borough joined a number of local authorities right across the country marking the weekend and celebrating the massive contribution Polish people have made to this country.
In the Second World War Polish pilots constituted the second largest Allied contingent after the British in the Battle of Britain, and cemeteries across the country are the last resting place of hundreds of Polish soldiers, sailors and aircrew who gave their lives in the conflict.
During the communist era after Poland had been over run by the Soviet Union the UK was the refuge of the Polish Government in exile and free Poles.
The Polish community today are the descendents of those people and those who came to the country after it joined the European Union.
Today the Polish community has the highest rate of people in employment or higher education among all ethnic groups in Britain at 92 per cent.
