Powązki Military Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach) is an old military cemetery located in the
Żoliborz
Żoliborz () is one of the northern districts of the city of Warsaw. It is located directly to the north of the City Centre, on the left bank of the Vistula river. It has approximately 50,000 inhabitants and is one of the smallest boroughs of W ...
district, western part 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 ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. The cemetery is often confused with the older
Powązki Cemetery
Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of t ...
, known colloquially as "Old Powązki". The Old Powązki cemetery is located to the south-east of the military cemetery.
The military cemetery holds the graves of many who have fought and died for their country since the early 19th century, including a large number involved in the
1920 Battle of Warsaw, the
September 1939 Campaign, and the ill-fated 1944
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 ...
against
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
.
History
It was founded in 1912 as an annex to the Catholic cemetery, but after Poland regained independence in 1918, it became the state cemetery, where some of the most notable people of the period were buried, regardless of their faith.
A large part of the cemetery is occupied by graves of Polish soldiers who died in 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 ...
. Most of the graves were exhumed between 1945 and 1953 from the streets of Warsaw. In many cases, the names of the soldiers remain unknown, and the graves are marked only by the Polish Red Cross identification number. Until the early 1950s, brothers-in-arms of many dead soldiers organised exhumations of their colleagues on their own, and there are many quarters where soldiers of specific units are buried. Also in the cemetery are several mass graves of (mostly unknown) civilian victims of the German terror during World War II, especially during the Warsaw Uprising. There are mass graves of political prisoners executed during the Stalinist period, which lie under the graves of Communist figures. It took a change in the law to enable researchers to begin the recovery of these remains. As of August 2015, that work was ongoing.
In 1964, communist authorities renamed the cemetery to "Communal Cemetery". The traditional name was restored in 1998.
Notable burials
Those buried at the cemetery include:
*
Magdalena Abakanowicz
Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz-Kosmowska (20 June 1930 – 20 April 2017) was a Polish sculptor and fiber artist. She was known for her use of textiles as a sculptural medium and her outdoor installations. She is widely regarded as one of Poland ...
(1930–2017), sculptor
*
Henryk Arctowski
Henryk Arctowski (15 July 1871 – 21 February 1958; ), born Henryk Artzt, was a Polish scientist and explorer. Living in exile for a large part of his life, he was one of the first persons to winter in Antarctica and became an internationally ...
(1871–1958), geologist and explorer
*
Grażyna Bacewicz
Grażyna Bacewicz Biernacka (; 5 February 1909 – 17 January 1969) was a Polish composer and violinist. She is the second Polish female composer to have achieved national and international recognition, the first being Maria Szymanowska in the ...
(1909–1969), composer
*
Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński
Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, (; nom de guerre: Jan Bugaj; 22 January 1921 – 4 August 1944) was a Polish poet and Home Army soldier, one of the most well known of the Generation of Columbuses, the young generation of Polish poets, of whom several ...
(1921–1944),
Home Army
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
soldier and poet
*
Władysław Bartoszewski
Władysław Bartoszewski (; 19 February 1922 – 24 April 2015) was a Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer and historian. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of the ...
(1922–2015), politician, social activist, journalist, writer and historian
*
Józef Beck
Józef Beck (; 4 October 1894 – 5 June 1944) was a Poles, Polish statesman who served the Second Republic of Poland as a diplomat and military officer. A close associate of Józef Piłsudski, Beck is most famous for being Polish foreign minist ...
(1894–1944), politician
*
Zygmunt Berling
Zygmunt Henryk Berling (27 April 1896 – 11 July 1980) was a Polish general and politician. He fought for the independence of Poland in the early 20th century. Berling was a co-founder and commander of the First Polish Army, which fought on the ...
(1896–1980), general and politician
*
Bolesław Bierut
Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 to 1947, President of Polan ...
(1892-1956), Polish President, Prime Minister and communist leader
*
Jan Brzechwa
Jan Brzechwa (), (15 August 1898 – 2 July 1966) was a Polish poet, author and lawyer, known mostly for his contribution to children's literature. He was born Jan Wiktor Lesman to a Polish family of Jewish descent. (1898–1966), poet
*
Jan Bytnar
Jan Roman Bytnar, ''nom de guerre'' "Rudy" (''Ginger'') (born 6 May 1921, Kolbuszowa, Poland – died 30 March 1943, Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish scoutmaster, a member of Polish scouting anti-Nazi resistance, and a lieutenant in the Home Army du ...
(1921–1943),
Home Army
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
soldier and anti-Nazi resistance fighter
*
Grzegorz Ciechowski
Grzegorz Zbigniew Ciechowski (29 August 1957 – 22 December 2001) was a Polish rock musician and film music composer.
Ciechowski was born in Tczew. He was the founder and frontman of the band Republika, which was one of Poland's most popul ...
(1957–2001), musician
*
Józef Cyrankiewicz
Józef Adam Zygmunt Cyrankiewicz (; 23 April 1911 – 20 January 1989) was a Polish Socialist (PPS) and after 1948 Communist politician. He served as premier of the Polish People's Republic between 1947 and 1952, and again for 16 years between ...
(1911–1989), communist leader
*
Kazimierz Deyna
Kazimierz Deyna (; 23 October 1947 – 1 September 1989) was a Polish professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder in the playmaker role and was one of the most highly regarded players of his generation, due to his excellent vis ...
(1947–1989), footballer
*
Xawery Dunikowski
Xawery Dunikowski (; 24 December 1875 – 26 January 1964) was a Polish sculptor and artist, notable for surviving Auschwitz concentration camp, and best known for his Neo-Romantic sculptures and Auschwitz-inspired art.
Biography
Dunikowski w ...
(1875–1964), sculptor and painter
*
Adolf Dymsza
Adolf Dymsza (born Adolf Bagiński; 7 April 1900 – 20 August 1975) was a Polish comedy actor of both the pre-World War II and post-war eras. He starred in both theatre and film productions, mainly before World War II. He and Kazimierz Krukowski ...
(1900–1975), actor
*
Wojciech Fangor
Wojciech (pronounced: ) Bonawentura Fangor (15 November 1922 – 25 October 2015), also known as Voy Fangor, was a Polish Painting, painter, graphic artist, Sculpture, sculptor. Described as "one of the most distinctive painters to emerge from p ...
(1922–2015), painter and graphic artist
*
Emil August Fieldorf
August Emil Fieldorf (''nom de guerre''; “''Nil''”; 20 March 1895 – 24 February 1953) was a Polish brigadier general who served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Home Army after the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising (August 1944 – ...
(1895–1953), general and WWII hero
*
Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński
Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (23 January 1905 – 6 December 1953), alias ''Karakuliambro'', was a Polish poet. He is well known for the "paradramatic" absurd humorous sketches of the ''Green Goose Theatre''.
Biography
Born to a lower-mid ...
(1905–1953), poet
*
Bronisław Geremek (1932–2008), politician and social historian
*
Władysław Gomułka
Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948. Following the Polish October he became leader again from 1956 to 1970. Go ...
(1905–1982), communist leader
*
Kazimierz Górski
Kazimierz Klaudiusz Górski (2 March 1921 – 23 May 2006) was a coach of Poland national football team and honorary president of the Polish Football Association. He was also a football player, capped once for Poland.
Playing career
He was bor ...
(1921–2006), football coach
*
Leopold Infeld
Leopold Infeld (20 August 1898 – 15 January 1968) was a Polish physicist who worked mainly in Poland and Canada (1938–1950). He was a Rockefeller fellow at Cambridge University (1933–1934) and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Ea ...
(1898–1968), physicist
*
Stefania Jabłońska (1920–2017), scientist
*
Alina Janowska
Alina Janowska (16 April 1923 – 13 November 2017) was a Polish actress. She appeared in more than 35 films and television shows between 1946 and 2017.
Biography
Janowska was born in 1923 in Warsaw into a wealthy family. She was arrested ...
(1923–2017), actress
*
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party be ...
(1923–2014), communist leader
*
Jan Kapela (1931–1987), politician
*
Ryszard Kapuściński
Ryszard Kapuściński (; 4 March 1932 – 23 January 2007) was a Polish journalist, photographer, poet and author. He received many awards and was considered a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kapuściński's personal journals in bo ...
(1932–2007), journalist
*
Leszek Kołakowski
Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analyses of Marxist thought, especially his three-volume history, '' Main Currents of Marxism'' (1976). ...
(1927–2009), philosopher
*
Władysław Komar
Władysław Stefan Komar (11 April 1940 – 17 August 1998) was a Polish shot putter, actor and cabaretist. Competing in three Summer Olympics between 1964 and 1972, he won the gold medal at the Munich Games in 1972 with a throw of 21.18 metre ...
(1940–1998), athlete
*
Tadeusz Konwicki
Tadeusz Konwicki (22 June 1926 – 7 January 2015) was a Polish writer and film director, as well as a member of the Polish Language Council.
Life
Konwicki was born in 1926 as the only son of Jadwiga Kieżun and Michał Konwicki in Nowa Wilejka, ...
(1926–2015), writer
*
Kazimierz Kuratowski
Kazimierz Kuratowski (; 2 February 1896 – 18 June 1980) was a Polish mathematician and logician. He was one of the leading representatives of the Warsaw School of Mathematics.
Biography and studies
Kazimierz Kuratowski was born in Warsaw, (t ...
(1896–1980), mathematician
*
Jacek Kuroń
Jacek Jan Kuroń (; 3 March 1934 – 17 June 2004) was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. He was widely known as the "godfather of the Polish opposition," not unlike Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia. Ku ...
(1934–2004), anti-communist activist
*
Stefan Kuryłowicz (1949–2011), architect
*
Oskar Lange
Oskar Ryszard Lange (27 July 1904 – 2 October 1965) was a Polish economist and diplomat. He is best known for advocating the use of market pricing tools in socialist systems and providing a model of market socialism. He responded to the econo ...
(1904–1965), economist
*
Tadeusz Łomnicki
Tadeusz Łomnicki (; 18 July 1927 – 22 February 1992) was a Polish actor, one of the most notable stage and film artists of his time in Poland. He is remembered mostly for his roles in comedies and dramas, as well as for the role of Kordian in ...
(1927–1992), actor
*
Stanisław Mazur
Stanisław Mieczysław Mazur (1 January 1905, Lwów – 5 November 1981, Warsaw) was a Polish mathematician and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Mazur made important contributions to geometrical methods in linear and nonlinear functio ...
(1905–1981), mathematician
*
Grzegorz Miecugow
Grzegorz Miecugow (22 November 1955 – 26 August 2017) was a Polish media personality of Armenian-Georgian descent.
He had an extensive career as a journalist, newscaster, editor, and columnist.
Career
He was born on 22 November 1955 in Krak ...
(1955–2017), media personality
*
Zofia Nałkowska
Zofia Nałkowska (, Warsaw, Congress Poland, 10 November 1884 – 17 December 1954, Warsaw) was a Polish prose writer, dramatist, and prolific essayist. She served as the executive member of the prestigious Polish Academy of Literature (1933–1939 ...
(1884–1954), novelist
*
Jan Olszewski
Jan Ferdynand Olszewski (; 20 August 1930 – 7 February 2019) was a Polish conservative lawyer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Poland for five months between December 1991 and early June 1992 and later became a leading figure ...
(1930–2019), politician
*
Maria Ossowska
Maria Ossowska (''née'' Maria Niedźwiecka, 16 January 1896, Warsaw – 13 August 1974, Warsaw) was a Polish sociologist and social philosopher.
Life
A student of the philosopher Tadeusz Kotarbiński, she originally in 1925 received a doctorat ...
(1896–1974), sociologist
*
Marian Rejewski
Marian Adam Rejewski (; 16 August 1905 – 13 February 1980) was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in late 1932 reconstructed the sight-unseen German military Enigma cipher machine, aided by limited documents obtained by French mili ...
(1905–1980), mathematician and cryptologist
*
Zbigniew Religa
Zbigniew Eugeniusz Religa (; 16 December 1938 – 8 March 2009) was a prominent Polish cardiac surgeon and politician.
Career as doctor
Religa finished his studies at the Medical University of Warsaw in 1963. From 1966 to 1980 he worked in ...
(1938–2009), surgeon and politician
*
Michał Rola-Żymierski
Michał Rola-Żymierski (; 4 September 189015 October 1989) was a Polish high-ranking Communist Party leader, communist military commander and NKVD secret agent. He was appointed as Marshal of Poland by Joseph Stalin, and served in this position ...
(1890-1989), communist leader and marshal of Poland
*
Tadeusz Ross (1938–2021), actor and politician
*
Leon Schiller
Leon Schiller or Leon Schiller de Schildenfeld (14 March 1887 – 25 March 1954) was a Polish theatre and film director, as well as critic and theatre theoretician. He also wrote theatre and radio screenplays and composed music. He was born in Kra ...
(1887–1954), theatre director
*
Kamila Skolimowska (1982–2009), athlete
*
Walery Sławek
Walery Jan Sławek (; 2 November 1879 – 3 April 1939) was a Polish politician, freemason, military officer and activist, who in the early 1930s served three times as Prime Minister of Poland. He was one of the closest aides of Polish lead ...
(1879–1939), politician
*
Piotr Sobociński
Piotr Sobociński (; 3 February 1958 – 26 March 2001) was a Polish cinematographer. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for '' Three Colours: Red'' in 1994. Sobociński was the son of Polish cinematographer Witol ...
(1958–2001), cinematographer
*
Stanisław Sosabowski
Stanisław Franciszek Sosabowski CBE (; 8 May 1892 – 25 September 1967) was a Polish general in World War II. He fought in the Polish Campaign of 1939 and at the Battle of Arnhem (Netherlands) in 1944 as commander of the Polish 1st Independe ...
(1892–1967), WWII general
*
Tomasz Stańko
Tomasz Ludwik Stańko (11 July 1942 – 29 July 2018) was a Polish trumpeter and composer. Stańko was associated with free jazz and the avant-garde.
In 1962, Tomasz Stańko formed his first band, the Jazz Darings, with saxophonist Janusz Munia ...
(1942–2018), jazz musician
*
Aleksander Sulkiewicz
Iskander Mirza Huzman Beg Sulkiewicz (8 December 1867 – 18 September 1916), known as Aleksander Sulkiewicz, was a Polish people, Polish politician of Lipka Tatars, Lipka Tatar ethnicity who campaigned for Polish independence and co-founded the Po ...
(1867–1916), politician
*
Jerzy Szacki
Jerzy Ryszard Szacki (6 February 1929 – 25 October 2016) was a Polish sociology, sociologist and History of ideas, historian of ideas.Jerzy Szacki, Liberalism after communism, Central European University Press, 1995, back cover/ref>Nauka Polska, ...
(1929–2016), sociologist
*
Danuta Szaflarska
Danuta Szaflarska (; 6 February 1915 – 19 February 2017) was a Polish film and stage actress. In 2008 she was awarded the Złota Kaczka for the best Polish actress of the century. Szaflarska participated in the Warsaw Uprising as a liaison. Sz ...
(1915–2017), actress
*
Irena Szewińska
Irena Szewińska (née Kirszenstein; Polish pronunciation: ; 24 May 1946 – 29 June 2018) was a Polish sprinter who was one of the world's foremost athletes for nearly two decades, in multiple events. She is the only athlete in history, m ...
(1946–2018), athlete
*
Władysław Szpilman
Władysław Szpilman (; 5 December 1911 – 6 July 2000) was a Polish pianist and classical composer of Jewish descent. Szpilman is widely known as the central figure in the 2002 Roman Polanski film '' The Pianist'', which was based on Szpilman ...
(1911–2000), pianist and composer
*
Leonid Teliga (1917–1970), sailor
*
Julian Tuwim
Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied la ...
(1894–1953), poet
*
Jerzy Urban (1933–2022), journalist, publicist, columnist, writer, communist, spokesman for the Council of Ministers of the
Polish People's Republic
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
*
Witold Woyda
Witold Woyda (10 May 1939 – 5 May 2008) was a Polish fencer who won four Olympic medals in the foil between 1964 and 1972, including two gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was named the Polish Sportspersonality of the Year for ...
(1939–2008), fencer
*
Jan Zumbach
Jan Eugeniusz Ludwig Zumbach (14 April 1915, Ursynów, Congress Poland, Russian Empire – 3 January 1986, France) was a Polish- Swiss fighter pilot who became an ace and squadron commander during the Second World War. During the Cold War, he ...
(1915–1986), WWII fighter pilot and flying ace
Gallery
Image:Powazki powstanie 1.JPG, Graves of Polish soldiers who died in the 1944 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 ...
Image:Powazki wojskowe groby 1920.JPG, Graves from the Polish-Soviet War
Image:Kwatera Batalionu Zośka Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach 010.JPG, Graves of Gray Ranks
"Gray Ranks" ( pl, Szare Szeregi) was a codename for the underground paramilitary Polish Scouting Association (') during World War II.
The wartime organisation was created on 27 September 1939, actively resisted and fought German occupation in ...
members
Image:Powazki wrzesien 3.JPG, World War II graves
Image:Sosabowski grave.JPG, Stanisław Sosabowski
Stanisław Franciszek Sosabowski CBE (; 8 May 1892 – 25 September 1967) was a Polish general in World War II. He fought in the Polish Campaign of 1939 and at the Battle of Arnhem (Netherlands) in 1944 as commander of the Polish 1st Independe ...
's grave
Image:Groby załogi lotu LO5055.jpg, Graves of the victims of the LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Warsaw, People's Republic of Poland, Poland, to New York City, United States. In the late-morning hours of 9 May 1987, the Ilyushin Il-62, Ilyushin Il-62M operati ...
Image:Funeral military ceremony in Poland.jpg, Funeral ceremony at the cemetery
Image:Juliusz Rómmel grób.JPG, Juliusz Rómmel
Juliusz Karol Wilhelm Józef Rómmel (german: Julius Karl Wilhelm Josef Freiherr von Rummel; 3 June 1881 – 8 September 1967) was a Polish military commander, a general of the Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic), Polish Armed Forces.
He ...
's grave
Image:Ryszard Kuklinski - grave.jpg, Ryszard Kukliński
Ryszard Jerzy Kukliński (June 13, 1930February 11, 2004) was a Polish colonel and Cold War spy for NATO. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of brigadier general by Polish President Andrzej Duda. Kukliński passed top secret Soviet documen ...
's grave
Image:Wojciech Jaruzelski (grób) 03.JPG, Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party be ...
's grave
File:Zygmunt Berling - gravestone.jpg, Zygmunt Berling
Zygmunt Henryk Berling (27 April 1896 – 11 July 1980) was a Polish general and politician. He fought for the independence of Poland in the early 20th century. Berling was a co-founder and commander of the First Polish Army, which fought on the ...
's grave
See also
*
Powązki Cemetery
Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of t ...
*
Rakowicki Cemetery
Rakowicki Cemetery (English: ; pl, Cmentarz Rakowicki) is a historic necropolis and a cultural heritage monument located on 26 Rakowicka Street in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It lies within the Administrative District No. 1 ''Stare Miasto'' ...
*
Lychakiv Cemetery
Lychakiv Cemetery ( uk, Личаківський цвинтар, translit=Lychakivs’kyi tsvyntar; pl, Cmentarz Łyczakowski we Lwowie), officially State History and Culture Museum-Preserve "Lychakiv Cemetery" ( uk, Державний істор ...
References
External links
*
Comprehensive information at the Cmentarium website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powazki Military Cemetery
*
Cemeteries in Warsaw
Military memorials and cemeteries in Poland
Żoliborz