Baszta Soldiers Memorial
The memorial in 2018. | |
Interactive map of Baszta Soldiers Memorial | |
| Location | Dworkowa Street, Mokotów, Warsaw, Poland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°12′20.6″N 21°01′30.0″E / 52.205722°N 21.025000°E |
| Designer | Eugeniusz Ajewski |
| Type | Obelisk |
| Material | Concrete |
| Opening date | 27 September 1984 |
| Dedicated to | Victims of the execution at Dworkowa Street of 1944 |
The Baszta Soldiers Memorial (Polish pronunciation: [ˈbaʂ.ta]; Polish: Pomnik żołnierzy „Baszty”) is a monument in Warsaw, Poland, located within the Old Mokotów neighbourhood at Dworkowa Street, in the Eye of the Sea Park. It commemorates around 140 insurgents of the Warsaw Uprising, mainly soldiers of the Baszta Regiment Group of the Home Army, executed at the location on 27 September 1944, by the Order Police (Ordnungspolizei). It has a form of a concrete obelisk. It was designed by Eugeniusz Ajewski, and unveiled on 27 September 1984.
History
The monument commemorates around 140 insurgents of the Warsaw Uprising, mainly soldiers of the Baszta Regiment Group of the Home Army, executed on 27 September 1944, at Dworkowa Street by the Order Police (Ordnungspolizei). "The insurgents were captured as they attempted to retreat from Mokotów to Downtown through the city sewage network. They were discovered by German officers and forced to resurface at Dworkowa Street, near the local headquarters of the Gendarmerie of the Order Police for the Warsaw District.[1][2][3]
The memorial was unveiled on 27 September 1984, in the 40th anniversary of the execution, in the Eye of the Sea Park near Dworkowa Street. The sculpture was designed by Eugeniusz Ajewski, and manufactured by the Żerańska Fabryka Elementów Betoniarskich Faelbet (Faelbet Żerań Concrete Components Factory). The money for its construction was raised by the Society of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy.[1][4] Aleksander Kowalewski, a soldier of the Baszta Regiment Group, and a survivor of the execution, was one of the main propagators of the memorial, and became the first person to light a grave candle near it, during the unveiling ceremony.[1][5]
Characteristics
The memorial is placed in the Eye of the Sea Park, near Dworkowa Street. It is located next to the manhole cover of the sewage entrance from which Polish soldiers were forced to resurface during their capture, and near their place of execution. The sculpture is made from concrete and measures 6 meters. It takes the form of an obelisk, with a hexagonal pedestal, topped with three irregularly-shaped pylons, joined at the top with a hexagonal plate. They are decorated with three bronze wall sculptures, depicting the War Order of Virtuti Militari, the badge of the Baszta Regiment Group, and the Anchor symbol. The top of the pedestal is paved with stones, featuring a symbolic sewage manhole cover in its centre. Additionally, a trail of footprints painted in white paint, leads from a nearby sewer manhole to the monument. The pedestal also bears a brass plaque with an inscription in Polish, which reads:[1][4]
Pamięci żołnierzy AK – powstańców Mokotowa
pomordowanych przez hitlerowców już po kapitulacji 27 IX 1944
Towarzysze Broni Pułku „Baszta”
In memory of the soldiers of the Home Army, the insurgents of Mokotów
murdered by the Nazis on 27 September 1944, after the capitulation
Comrades in arms of the Baszta Regiment
Gallery
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The plaque at the monument.
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A trail of footstepts, leading from the monument to the nearby sewage manhole cover.
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the badge of the Baszta Regiment Group.
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The Anchor symbol.
References
- ^ a b c d Wiesław Głębocki: Warszawskie pomniki. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo PTTK Kraj, 1990, pp. 126-127. (in Polish)
- ^ Adam Borkiewicz: Powstanie warszawskie. Zarys działań natury wojskowej. Warsaw: Instytut wydawniczy PAX, 1969, p. 502. (in Polish)
- ^ Lesław M. Bartelski: Mokotów 1944. Warszawa: wydawnictwo MON, 1986, pp. 595–597. ISBN 83-11-07078-4. (in Polish)
- ^ a b Irena Grzesiuk-Olszewska: Warszawska rzeźba pomnikowa. Warsaw: Neriton, 2003, p. 153. ISBN 9788388973598. (in Polish)
- ^ "Aleksander Kowalewski". 1944.pl (in Polish).