“The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Moscow has sent a note to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the removal of the monument to Polish victims of repression in Piwowarisze near Irkutsk; the note also applies to the monument to Lithuanian victims of repression, Ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski told PAP.
Today we submitted a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation regarding the removal of a symbolic headstone commemorating the Polish victims of political repression in Russia, as well as a cross commemorating Lithuanian victims standing next to it
said the ambassador.
We combine these two very valuable and important places because we do not divide the victims by nationality
he stressed.
He noted that the Polish memorial was “funded in 2015 by a Polish community organization with the permission of the local authorities”.
We object to the removal and transfer of (monuments) to an unknown location
said the ambassador.
He said that in a note, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland asks to explain where the removed monument is located, and the reasons for the removal of this – as he noted – “a very important memorial site”.
The wooden cross in memory of the Lithuanian victims, which stood next to the Polish monument, “was removed to our great surprise, because the cross is a symbol of the Christian religion, which is also the dominant religion in Russia,” the diplomat said. As he recalled, representatives of both countries often put flowers together, both at the Lithuanian cross and at the granite symbolic tombstone commemorating Poland.
It was a symbol connecting Poland and Lithuania
noted the ambassador.
Polish and Lithuanian memorial
Photos were attached to the note: photos of both monuments and the surrounding area after removal.
Information appeared on Friday about the removal of monuments in Piwowarisze, a well-known place of burials of victims of Stalinist repression. As Ambassador Krajewski told PAP at the time, the pretext for removing the monuments was the reorganization of alleyways in this area.
The monument in honor of the Polish victims of the repression, which was located in the memorial complex in Piwowarisze, was in the form of a tombstone depicting a weeping figure. Under the cross engraved on the plate was an inscription in Russian: “So shame is for those who are no more for the deeds of those who brought so much misfortune. We remember, we hurt. Below that were the words in Polish: “Rest in peace.” The monument was erected in 2015 on the initiative of the Polish Cultural Autonomy Ogniwo and the consulate in Irkutsk.
The Lithuanian monument was in the form of a meters high wooden cross. It also stood in Piwowarsze in 2015. Both monuments included memorials erected in Piwowarisze in honor of the victims of terror of different nationalities and religions. For example, on the grounds of the memorial complex is a symbolic menorah commemorating Jews; there are also Orthodox crosses, symbolic tombstones and plaques with the names of the victims. Many of these commemorations were performed by the descendants of the murdered.
In the 1930s, near the village of Piwawaricha, today on the outskirts of Irkutsk, there was an object of the Soviet NKVD. In this closed facility, people were shot and their bodies buried in dug ditches. In total, the number of victims resting in these mass graves is estimated by historians at about 15-17 thousand. The mass graves were not discovered until the fall of 1989. Not all death pits have been identified yet.
In modern Russia, Pivowarikha became the first place of mass burial of victims of repression to be officially given cemetery status. The property is under the authority of the regional office for the protection of cultural heritage.
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“Russian Memory Attack!” A monument honoring Poland and a cross commemorating Lithuanians killed by the Soviets were removed
Mon/PAP
Source: wPolityce