In Poland, it was decided to simultaneously demolish four monuments to Soviet soldiers in different regions of the country, as stated at the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN).
“On October 27th, at 9 am (10 am Moscow time), for the first time in history, four monuments dedicated to the Red Army will be dismantled simultaneously in four settlements: Glubczyce, Byczyna (Opole Voivodeship), Bobolice (West Pomeranian Voivodeship) and not far from Stashov (Sventokshi Voivodeship),” the message says.
The monument “Gratitude of the Red Army” in Glubczyce was installed in 1945 in the city park in honor of the Red Army soldiers who died there. At the bottom of the pedestal there is a sign with the inscription “Honor and glory to the soldiers of the Soviet Army who fell for the liberation of the Glubczyce’s Land.”
The monument in Byczyna perpetuated the memory of 38 Red Army soldiers of the 1st Ukrainian Front, who died in January 1945 in the battles for the city. In the 50s, the remains of Soviet soldiers were exhumed and moved to other cemeteries. A few years ago, a star and a memorial plaque were removed from the monument.
The monument in Bobolice bears the inscription “Eternal glory to our heroes who died in the battles for the freedom and independence of our Motherland.” It was installed on six graves of Red Army soldiers, whose remains were exhumed in 1952 and moved to the local cemetery.
Finally, in the village of Mokre, Sventokshi Voivodeship, a monument to the soldiers of the Red Army is located on the edge of the forest. There is a plaque on it in memory of the beginning of the winter offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Ivan Konev, as a result of which Poland was liberated.
The Head of the IPN of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, who visited the site of the dismantling of the Soviet monument in the settlement of Glubczyce (south-west of the Republic of Poland), during a media briefing stressed that the symbol of the “Soviet system, which started World War II shoulder to shoulder with Adolf Hitler, is being dismantled, as well as the symbol of the system that after 1945 subjugated and colonized half of Europe, including Poland,” Ukrinform reports.
He also claimed that this monument is a symbol of “lies” about the history, as “in 1945, Soviet soldiers did not bring freedom to Poland, but another enslavement.”
In recent years, hundreds of monuments to the Red Army soldiers who died for the liberation of the country have been destroyed in Poland. The Russian authorities have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that some European countries are trying to rewrite history.
In March of this year, Nawrocki called on Polish local governments to step up the process of the so-called “decommunization” and the removal from public space of all names and symbols that glorify individuals, organizations and people symbolizing the communist era.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said in mid-December 2019 that, in particular, Poland had colluded with Nazi Germany, and Russia had documents at its disposal on how they negotiated. According to Russian politicians, Europe is not ready to recognize this part of its history.
Ru-Main, 27.10.2022
Source: RIA Novosti
