Russia protests over dismantled Red Army memorial in Poland
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
01.12.2015 08:30
The Russian foreign ministry has lodged a strong protest to the Polish ambassador in Moscow Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz over the dismantling of the Memorial of Gratitude to the Red Army in the town of Mielec, south-eastern Poland.
'The Statue of Gratefulness to the Red Army' in Mielec, southern Poland. prior to its removal in November 2015. Photo: wikimedia commons/kroton
The ministry’s statement describes the action as “the most cynical insult to the memory of Soviet soldiers who were killed in the struggle to free Europe from fascism”.
It is regrettable, it adds, that the Polish authorities are doing nothing to stop “the vandals”. The statement says that by dismantling the memorial the Polish side has once again seriously violated the provisions of bilateral documents, including the 1994 intergovernmental agreement on graves and sites of remembrance.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has demanded from the new Polish government that it “halts the destruction of Soviet memorials, ensures their maintenance, repairs damage and brings to account those responsible for it”.
The Memorial of Gratitude to the Red Army in Mielec, built in 1963, was dismantled last Saturday and transported to the Museum of (communist-era) People’s Poland in Ruda Śląska in the south pf the country. It was a replica of a monument erected in East Berlin in the 1950s.
Head of Mielec County Zbigniew Tymuła said at a press conference on Monday that the memorial was dismantled in line with all legal procedures binding in Poland.
“A decision to the effect was taken by the county council in June in a unanimous vote”, he explained, adding that shortly before the press conference he informed the Russian consul general in Poland, in a telephone conversation, about the way in which the dismantling operation was conducted.
“He understood that our decision was correct, in view of security reasons, as the memorial, almost two tonnes in weight, stood on concrete, without any proper protection. A tragedy was likely to occur”, the Mielec official said, stressing that the memorial was dismantled in a dignified manner.
Soviet memorials remain controversial as the 1944/45 liberation of Nazi-occupied Poland, which was accompanied by the arrests of thousands of members of the Polish resistance and intelligentsia by the Soviets, led to the installation of a Moscow-backed communist regime that endured until 1989. (mk/nh/rk)