The 1st of November is a public holiday in Poland. Schools and offices are closed. Whole families travel - sometimes for hours - to visit the cemeteries where their relatives are buried. They bring chrysanthemum flowers (which look like big colourful pom-poms) and little candles in red glass cups, called znicze (pronounced 'ZNEE-cheh').
At each grave, they tidy up the leaves, light a candle, place the flowers, and stand quietly for a while. Sometimes grandparents tell stories about the person to the children: 'This was your great-grandma. She used to bake the best apple cakes. She loved blackbirds.' It is a way of keeping a family memory alive.
After dark, the cemeteries glow. From a distance they look like fields of fireflies. Photographs of Polish cemeteries on 1 November are some of the most beautiful pictures in the world. The candles burn through the night and into the next day.
All Saints' Day is not sad in Poland. It is gentle. Families are together. Children meet aunts and uncles. Grandparents tell stories. The candles are a way of saying: we still remember you, and we always will.