The Little Insurrectionist ( Polish: ''Mały Powstaniec'') is a statue in commemoration of the child soldiers who fought and died during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

of 1944. It is located on Podwale Street,

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, next to the ramparts of Warsaw's

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

. The statue is of a young boy wearing a helmet too large for his head and holding a submachine gun. Despite being sometimes colloquially called ''Antek Rozpylacz'', it is not representing any specific child. The helmet and submachine gun are stylized after German equipment, which was captured during the uprising and used by the resistance fighters against the occupying forces. Jerzy Jarnuszkiewicz created the design in 1946 and it was used for years for producing small statuettes, only to become the monument decades later. Polish scouts gathered the entirety of funds for the statue and it was unveiled on 1 October 1983 by Professor Jerzy Świderski – a cardiologist who during the uprising was a 14-years-old courier (pseudonym: "Lubicz") serving in the "Gustaw" regiment of the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; 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) established in the ...

. Behind the statue is a plaque with the engraved words of "Warszawskie Dzieci" ("Varsovian Children"), a popular song from the period: "Warszawskie dzieci, pójdziemy w bój - za każdy kamień twój, stolico damy krew" ("Varsovian children, we'll head into battle—for every stone of yours, we shall give our blood").

Gallery

File:Pomnik małego powstańca w Warszawie.jpg, File:Pomnik malego powstanca.jpg, File:Tablica Pomnik Małego Powstańca w Warszawie.JPG, File:Sala Małego Powstańca MPW 04.JPG,

References

1983 establishments in Poland 1983 sculptures Buildings and structures completed in 1983 Child soldiers in World War II World War II monuments and memorials in Warsaw Sculptures of children in Poland Statues of men in Poland Warsaw Uprising monuments and memorials Outdoor sculptures in Warsaw Old Town, Warsaw Works about rebels Works about child soldiers Statues of military personnel {{Warsaw-struct-stub

Gallery

See also

References