Monument to the Fallen and Murdered in the East (Muranowska Street)
The monument designed by Maksymilian Biskupski is situated on the square of the Mother of Siberian (Matka Sybiraczka). The statue shows a pile of religious symbols, Catholic and Orthodox crosses as well as Jewish and Muslim burial symbols. They are tangled with a barbed wire and stand bent on a railway flatcar, which is set on tracks. Each railway sleeper displays the names of places related to the martyrdom and indictment of the citizens of the Second Polish Republic in the East. The cross for Polish officers murdered in Katyń is especially visible. Mainly thanks to Wojciech Ziembiński’s determination and dedication this monument stood in Warsaw. He was the oppositionist and the independence activist, the political prisoner and the curator of national memory. It was unveiled on September 17th 1995, with the participation of the President of Poland Lech Wałęsa, on the 56th anniversary of the Soviet invasion on Poland. In 1999, during the 7th pilgrimage to Poland, John Paul 2nd prayed here. On each anniversary of Soviet aggression on Poland, here are the central celebrations devoted to the memory of the victims of this aggression.