Mother's Day

The way of celebrating "Mother's Day" in Poland is derived from American tradition. In 1858, teacher Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis promoted "Mother's Work Days." In 1905, her daughter, who continued this work, managed to establish "Mother's Day" as a holiday that paid tribute to mothers for their dedication, love, and attachment. This met with great acceptance throughout society, which ultimately led to the recognition in 1914 by the United States Congress of "Mother's Day" as a national holiday. It was celebrated on the second Sunday of May. Shortly thereafter, this custom spread throughout America and then to the rest of the world. The American Red Cross youth was very involved in organizing the celebrations of "Mother's Day," promoting this holiday among the youth of other countries.

The perception of the Red Cross as the Greatest Mother in the World also comes from American tradition. An American artist juxtaposed the graphic sign of the red cross and a Red Cross sister caring for an injured soldier on a propaganda poster, along with the phrase The Greatest Mother in the World. This motif was used in Poland as early as 1921 in a project by Bogdan Nowakowski. The title of the painting "The Greatest Polish Mother - Polish Red Cross Society" emphasized both the greatness and universality of the Polish Red Cross, and also referred to the dual meaning of the word mother as both mother and homeland. In the Polish poster, Mother - the Red Cross lovingly embraces both the injured soldier and the elderly person, as well as cradles a sleeping child. The image expresses all these qualities that constituted the essence of the mission and activity of the Red Cross.

The understanding of the role of the Red Cross as a nurturing mother was close to Marshal Piłsudski, as he expressed in one of his statements.
An injured and sick soldier - a military orphan. Suddenly, he enters, as a byproduct of great military production, into a soulless, complicated machine, powerless, nervous, often submissive. Great efforts must be made to ensure that in this machine, the maternal heart beats, which loves that unhappy and suffering child more than anything, who is therefore useless for work, and therein lies the noble and great task of the Red Cross during war…"

Therefore, it is not surprising that the celebrations of "Mother's Day" were an important element of the upbringing of the youth of the Polish Red Cross. On one hand, it was a tribute paid to mothers for their love, care, and sacrifice, and on the other hand, it was about educating the youth in the spirit of these values shown to all in need.

The first celebrations of Mother's Day were organized by the youth of the PCK as early as the 1920s. In the materials promoting the celebrations of this holiday among the youth, references were often made to the memories and descriptions of relationships with mothers of distinguished figures such as Marshal Piłsudski, Juliusz Słowacki, and the American hero George Washington. During the interwar period, each year's May issue of the youth magazine "Youth Action" was dedicated to mothers and contained photographs from various countries, paintings, stories, memories, and poems dedicated to mothers.

In 1936, a special brochure was even developed by the PCK, which, in addition to the history of this holiday and descriptions of celebrations in other countries, contained materials and guidelines for celebrating "Mother's Day" in Poland. The brochure consisted of 68 pages and included poems for recitation, songs, dramatizations, 'living pictures,' easy-to-act sketches, and other tips on "how to organize the celebration of Mother's Day."

Unfortunately, this beautiful tradition of celebrating and paying tribute to mothers by the youth of the Red Cross has gradually faded away. Perhaps it can be renewed and revitalized today.