The "Brotherhood in Arms" monument, standing since 1972 in Nowogard’s Freedom Square, will be dismantled on Monday, as reported by Polskie Radio 24.
The removal ceremony will feature Karol Nawrocki, President of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), and Nowogard Mayor Michał Wiatr. The monument depicts two medieval knights alongside a Soviet soldier and a soldier of the communist-led Polish People’s Army.
Since 2017, the Szczecin branch of the IPN has advocated for the removal of the monument. In November 2017, the City Council passed a resolution mandating its removal, which Mayor Michał Wiatr has now decided to execute.
“There is no place for glorifying Soviet criminals in the public space of our homeland. The Red Army brought Poland oppression, rape, murder, and robbery,” IPN spokesperson Marcin Górka stated.
The removal is symbolically scheduled for July 22, a significant date in Poland’s communist history. During the communist era, it was celebrated as the "National Day of Poland's Rebirth", commemorating the Stalin-sanctioned manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation in 1944.
(jh)
Source: Polskie Radio 24
