Pomnik Bohaterów Getta w Warszawie האנדרטה לזכר מרד גטו ורשה מאָנומענט פֿאַר די געטאָ העלדן אין ווארשע | |
.JPG) Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, western side | |
 Interactive map of Monument to the Ghetto Heroes | |
| Location | Muranów,Warsaw, Poland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°14′59″N20°59′38″E / 52.24972°N 20.99389°E /52.24972; 20.99389 |
| Designer | Nathan Rapoport,Leon Suzin |
| Material | bronze and stone |
| Beginning date | 1946 |
| Completion date | 1948 |
| Opening date | 16 April 1946 |
| Dedicated date | 19 April 1948 |
| Dedicated to | Warsaw Ghetto |
TheMonument to the Ghetto Heroes (Polish:Pomnik Bohaterów Getta) is a monument inWarsaw,Poland, commemorating theWarsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 during theSecond World War. It is located in the area which was formerly a part of theWarsaw Ghetto, at the spot where the first armed clash of the uprising took place.
The monument was built partly ofNazi German materials originally brought to Warsaw in 1942 byAlbert Speer for his planned works. The completed monument was formally unveiled in April 1948.
The monument was raised in the square bordered by Anielewicza Street, Karmelicka Street, Lewartowskiego Street andZamenhofa Street.[1] From August 1942 until the end of the Warsaw ghetto this was the last location of theJudenrat. The site also witnessed several clashes between theWarsaw GhettoJewish partisans and the German and auxiliary troops.[2]
The decision to build a monument to the ghetto partisans was made as early as in 1944, by theCentral Committee of Polish Jews inLublin.[1][2] The monument was designed byLeon Suzin.[1][2] The first part of the monument, a small memorial tablet, was unveiled on April 16, 1946; the plaque was in the shape of a circle, with a palm leaf, aHebrewletter "B"ב, and a Hebrew,Polish andYiddish inscription: "For those who fell in an unprecedented and heroic struggle for the dignity and freedom of the Jewish people, for a free Poland, and for the liberation of mankind. Polish Jews".[1][2] It was also decided to build a larger monument in the future.[2]
The new, larger monument, sculpted byNathan Rapoport (who worked under the supervision of Suzin), was unveiled on April 19, 1948.[2][3] The monument stands 11 meters (36 ft) tall.[2] As Rapoport himself explained, the "wall" of the monument was designed to evoke not just the ghetto walls, but also theWestern Wall ("Wailing Wall") inJerusalem. The great stones would thus have "framed the memory of events in Warsaw in the iconographic figure ofJudaism's holiest site".[4] Thelabradorite stone used in parts of the monument comes from German supplies, ordered byAlbert Speer in 1942 for planned Nazi German monuments.[2]
The western part of the monument shows abronze group sculpture of insurgents - men, women and children, armed with guns andMolotov cocktails.[2] The central standing figure of this frieze is that ofMordechai Anielewicz (1919 – 8 May 1943), the leader ofŻydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ŻOB; English:Jewish Combat Organization) during the uprising.[Note 1]
The eastern part of the monument shows the persecution of Jews at the hands of the Nazi German oppressors.[2] The monument has a three-language sign: "Jewish nation to its fighters and martyrs."[2]
TheWarschauer Kniefall (German for "Warsawkneeling") byWilly Brandt took place in front of the monument in 1970, when Brandt was the Chancellor ofWest Germany.[6]
TheMuseum of the History of Polish Jews located opposite the monument was opened in April 2013.
