The Monument to Victims of the Wola Massacre (Pomnik ofiar Rzezi Woli) is a monument commemorating the
Wola massacre, the brutal mass-murder of the civilian population of
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
's
Wola district, carried out by the Germans in the early days of the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
, from 5 to 12 August 1944. It is located in a small square ("Skwer Pamięci") at the intersection of Solidarity Avenue (Aleja Solidarności) and Leszno Street in Warsaw.
The monument was unveiled on 27 November 2004, in the year of the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. It was designed by sculptor Richard Stryjecki (in collaboration with the architect Olaf Chmielewski and sculptor Mieczyslaw Syposz) and is made of Finnish granite. The monument was built on the initiative of a committee, headed by Lechosław Olejnick and Krzysztof Tadeusz Zwoliński.
Engraved at the top of the western side of the monument are the following words: "Mieszkańcy Woli zamordowani w 1944 roku podczas Powstania Warszawskiego" ("Residents of Wola murdered in 1944 during the Warsaw Uprising"). Underneath is an extensive list of addresses where the victims lived and the number of people murdered at each location.
Engraved at the top of the eastern side of the monument are the following words: "Pamięci 50 tysięcy mieszkańców Woli zamordowanych przez Niemców podczas Powstania Warszawskiego 1944 r" ("In memory of the 50,000 inhabitants of Wola murdered by the Germans during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944"). On the eastern side of the monument the surface of the granite has ten pits dug into it in irregular shapes which resemble the silhouettes of people lined up against a wall to be executed.
Monument was visited by Ambassador of Germany to the Poland on 1 August 2018. Ambassador Rolf Nikel laid a wreath at the memorial, paid respect and said:
We are full of pain and shame a we pay respect to them. Let them rest in peace.
See also
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Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
*
Wola massacre
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Wola Massacre Memorial on Górczewska Street
Wola (, ) is a district in western Warsaw, Poland, formerly the village of Wielka Wola, incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into an office (co ...
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Ochota massacre
The Ochota Massacre (in Polish: ''Rzeź Ochoty'' – ''"Ochota slaughter"'') was a wave of German-orchestrated mass murder, looting, arson, torture and rape, which swept through the Warsaw district of Ochota from 4–25 August 1944, during the Wa ...
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Warsaw Uprising Museum
The Warsaw Rising Museum ( pl, Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego), in the Wola district of Warsaw, Poland, is dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The institution of the museum was established in 1983, but no construction work took place for m ...
Bibliography
Niedziela (Sunday) - information about the monument in Polish
References
{{Reflist
Monuments and memorials in Warsaw
Warsaw Uprising
World War II monuments and memorials in Poland
2004 establishments in Poland
2004 sculptures