×
Search this website for:
29.10.2018

"Plaques of Remembrance " - Warsaw, 26 October 2018

The first plaque was unveiled on the wall at the intersection of Marszałkowska Street and Aleje Jerozolimskie in Warsaw, near the memorial tablet by Karol Tchorek of 1949. "It is our moral duty to commemorate the martyrdom of our compatriots. The new plaques will be a history lesson for next generations of Poles, and guests from abroad will have a chance to learn about the difficult, painful, but victorious Polish history," said Jarosław Szarek, the President of IPN.

Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Inauguration of the "Plaques of Remembrance" project - Warsaw, 26 October 2018. Photos: Sławek Kasper (IPN)

On 26 October 2018, the first "Plaque of Remembrance" was unveiled on the wall at the intersection of Marszałkowska Street and Aleje Jerozolimskie in Warsaw. It is the English language version of the memorial plaque by Karol Tchorek of 1949. It was unveiled by the President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Dr Jarosław Szarek, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Prof Piotr Gliński, and the President of the Board of PGE Energia Ciepła, Wojciech Dąbrowski.

“We are standing in the place where 74 years ago our compatriots were shot. Today, there are about 160 such places of commemoration in Warsaw, which yields about 5,000 victims (...) Executions were carried out by the German invader in order to throw this city, the invincible, enduring Warsaw, to its knees. But Warsaw could not be defeated, nor the will of resistance of the Warsaw residents!,”  Jarosław Szarek, the President of IPN, said to the gathered speakers. “Today, hundreds, thousands and millions of guests come to Poland and to this city, which is alive and free. We want them to know the tragic history of Warsaw. (...) Today there are fewer and fewer witnesses, and in a few years, all those who remember will depart, but these plaque will call and cry,” said Dr Szarek during the ceremony. “We want this cry to be comprehensible for those who will come to Poland,” the President of the Institute of National Remembrance emphasized.

The ceremony inaugurated the "Plaque of Remembrance” project, whose aim is to popularize history among foreign tourists. Nearly 160 information boards will be installed in Warsaw near the plaques commemorating Poles murdered by German troops during the Second World War. In the second stage of the project, the plaques will be placed in memorial sites in other Polish cities. Also, debates, conferences and initiatives in the urban space and the Internet, are planned. The project has been initiated by PGE Energia Ciepła Foundation and is being implemented in cooperation with the Institute of National Remembrance. It is carried out under the patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Prof Piotr Gliński.


Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up for a fresh look at history: stay up to date with the latest events, get new texts by our researchers, follow the IPN’s projects