The Memorial Chamber officially opens at the Warsaw Rebel Cemetery. There are 104,000 105 people in this cemetery and their voices will be this cemetery and this Memorial Hall; she must call the whole world: no more war – said Wanda Traczyk-Stawska during the ceremony.
Sunday is the 78th anniversary of the end of the fighting in the Warsaw Uprising, and at the same time the anniversary of the civilian victims of the uprising.
At the Warsaw Rebel Cemetery in Wola, where the ashes of most of the civilian victims of the uprising are buried, the Memorial Room was officially opened.
The opening was carried out by Wanda Traczyk-Stawska, chair of the Social Committee for the Funeral of the Warsaw Rebels, together with the Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski and the chairman of the Warsaw Council, Ewa Malinowska-Grupińska. The ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Chair of the Sejm, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, members of parliament, and the German ambassador, Thomas Bagger.
Wanda Traczyk-Stawska said some people wanted it to be a “palace”. “And we want it to be like a bunker, to know what war is. And everyone who comes out of this bunker to see how beautiful this world is,” he said.
“There are 104,000 105 people in this cemetery and their voices will be in this cemetery and this Memorial Hall. She screams to the whole world: no more wars” – said Wanda Traczyk-Stawska during the ceremony. “Never again. We must not allow those who are weakest to be killed – the civilian population. Soldiers have weapons, and civilians have only a voice. Therefore, I call on all civilians: demand peace and help Ukraine so that no Third World War. “- added Traczyk-Stawska.
He also mentions Wanda Lurie, who miraculously survived the Wola Massacre, and who named her son Mścisław. “I don’t agree with the name Mścisław. But I do agree that this woman deserves a Virtuti Militari for women. And I ask for such decorations” – says Traczyk-Stawska.
He also comments on the shape of the Memorial Chamber itself. He said some wanted it to be a “palace”. “And we want it to be like a bunker, to know what war is. And everyone who comes out of this bunker to see how beautiful this world is,” he said.
The mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, thanked the Social Committee for the Funerals of the Warsaw Rebels for confirming that the funeral was “a testament to the unprecedented sacrifice our city has suffered”. “This is the place the whole world should shout: no more war”
“It’s not politicians who should scream, because no one should advocate for patriotism, but places like that should witness – no more war – but also remind us of what may be over,” he said.
“We will make every effort to ensure that all the names that have been buried here can be written on these walls and that they testify to the greatest sacrifice. There are already 60,000 of these names and we will add them as we discover new facts” – stressed mayor of Warsaw.
Today we can understand Ukraine, he added, because “Warsaw was sentenced to death by one madman.” “This place is to serve us all so we can hear the voices of those who survived.”
Traczyk-Stawska on the Warsaw Uprising: defenseless civilians are the bravest
“We will make every effort to ensure that all the names that have been buried here can be written on these walls and that they testify to the greatest sacrifice. There are already 60,000 of these names and we will add them as we discover new facts” – stressed mayor of Warsaw.
“We have to remember, we have to be accountable, but we also have to look forward, because this is the most important thing today. And that history should not be treated instrumentally, just for the sake of short-term political battles. But the place and the witnesses must shout: no more war” – exclaimed Trzaskowski.
“Mrs. Wanda, you today are an emanation of people who made us better” – says Ewa Malinowska-Grupińska.
The Memorial Room is a spacious one-story stone building that resembles a bunker. Divided into several rooms. In the Hall of Testimony there is a temporary exhibition “Death of the City” – a wide view of the left bank of Warsaw, where places of executions and temporary graves of civilians and rebels, certified in historical sources, are marked.
The Memorial Room is a spacious one-story stone building that resembles a bunker. Divided into several rooms. In the Hall of Testimony there is a temporary exhibition “Death of the City” – a wide view of the left bank of Warsaw, where places of executions and temporary graves of civilians and rebels, certified in historical sources, are marked.
In the History Room there is an exhibition presenting the history of the Warsaw Rebel Cemetery. The Remembrance Room also includes the Remembrance Wall, which is the tombstone for all the victims of the Warsaw Uprising. On its seven sections are more than 60,000 brass plates engraved with the names, surnames, and ages of fallen civilians and rebels. There is an empty space between the plates that will someday be filled with new data. Now this blank is dedicated to an unknown victim. The exhibition in the Memorial Hall was prepared by the Warsaw Museum.
The foundation for the construction of the Memorial Chamber was laid on July 29, 2021. Construction took more than a year.
In the evening, the celebrations of the 78th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising are scheduled to end – the national flag will be abandoned, the “flame of memory” will be transferred to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the lighting of the monument in General Gustaw Orlicz-Dreszer’s garden will be turned off. (PAP)
Author: Piotr miłowicz
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