Katyn Memorial Panel Description - Polish Eagle, Chrobry, Zawisza Czarny
The National Katyn Memorial in Baltimore, Maryland
Read the article about Katyn Remembrance in Baltimore, MD - updated with Events in 2006 and 2007
and The Katyn Massacre
Below is the text which will be placed on the Katyn memorial panel. See the Katyn monument on the photographs Photo I,
Photo II and
Read about Katyn Massacre.
Fire has been used artistically to symbolize a rebirth or transformation. In this Monument, a symbolic fire envelops the KATYŃ MARTYRS in its flames and raises them spiritually into the pantheon of National Heroes of Poland.
Below is the description of the left side of the panel
Below is the sketch of the memorial - click inside it to see the images magnified
THE CROWNED POLISH EAGLE (left-top corner on the panel), shown in silhouette, emerges from the core of the flame of the monument. The White Eagle has been the national symbol of Poland for over 1,000 years. The eagle lost its crown during Communist domination in the years after World War II. The crown was restored in 1989 when Poland regained its sovereignty.
THREE POLISH OFFICERS at the base of the monument represent the victims of the Katyn massacre. The one female figure depicted on the right is Lieutenant Jawidga Lewandowska, a Polish Air Force pilot. She is the only known woman to share the fate of her brother officers. Higher on the sculpture, the Martyrs murdered at Katyn by the Soviet secret police are depicted by other bound figures.
The three military figures are at the base of the monument, below is their sketch from the panel (to the left from the center)
BOLESLAW CHROBRY (Boleslaw the Brave), the first crowned King of Poland, is shown holding the legendary spear of St Maurice. This spear, presented to him by the Holy Roman Emperor in the year 1000, signified the sovereignty and independence of the Polish nation.
Sketch of Boleslaw
ZAWISZA CZARNY (Zawisza the Black), a Polish knight of the 15th century, was famous throughout Europe. In 1410, he fought in the Battle of Grunwald, the last epic battle of the Middle Ages, in which the combined armies of Poland and Lithuania defeated the German Teutonic Knights. In 1429, he died fighting the Ottoman Turkish invasion of the Balkans.
Sketch of Zawisza Czarny
Read the description of the center and the right side of the panel in the article
Katyn Memorial - Sobieski, Wladyslaw II, Kosciuszko, Pulaski.
The artist of the panels/figures is Carla Tomaszewski, grapics designer, see her website
Text developed and written by the Signage Committee of The National Katyn Memorial Foundation
Photographs by Richard P. Poremski, contact the author by e-mail
Help to install the panel with the tax-deductible donation sent to:
The National Katyn Memorial Foundation
Baltimore MD 21224
I recommend a book-sumary of Katyn murder, written by Janusz Kazimierz Zawodny, entitled Death in the Forest: The Story of the Katyn Forest Massacre
Read also the overview of Polish history entitled
The Polish Way: A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and Their Culture
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