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Kazimierz Danilewicz, pomnik lotników polskich, 1970, granit, stal, Slaglille, cmentarz kościelny, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2016
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Źródło: Instytut Polonika, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Polish Airmen Monument in Slaglille
Kazimierz Danilewicz, pomnik lotników polskich, 1970, granit, stal, Slaglille, cmentarz kościelny, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2016
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Źródło: Instytut Polonika, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Polish Airmen Monument in Slaglille
Kazimierz Danilewicz, pomnik lotników polskich, 1970, granit, stal, Slaglille, cmentarz kościelny, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2016
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Źródło: Instytut Polonika, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Polish Airmen Monument in Slaglille
Kazimierz Danilewicz, pomnik lotników polskich, 1970, granit, stal, Slaglille, cmentarz kościelny, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2016
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Źródło: Instytut Polonika, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Polish Airmen Monument in Slaglille
Kazimierz Danilewicz, pomnik lotników polskich, 1970, granit, stal, Slaglille, cmentarz kościelny, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2016
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Źródło: Instytut Polonika, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Polish Airmen Monument in Slaglille
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ID: POL-001440-P

Polish Airmen Monument in Slaglille

ID: POL-001440-P

Polish Airmen Monument in Slaglille

The multi-part memorial is located in a rural cemetery near the Romanesque church in the small village of Slaglille in Central Zealand. It is also the grave of five airmen of the Polish crew of the Halifax 309 bomber and (adjacent to it) five members of the local Christensen family who died when the aircraft crashed on 17 September 1943. The RAF aircraft was returning from Poland, where two of the cichociemni had been dropped near Tłuszcz in Mazovia, and was shot down by a German fighter jet. Two Poles survived the crash, one was rescued by the Danish resistance, the other was taken prisoner.

Thanks to the initiative of a local pastor - and against the prohibition of the Germans - the fallen were able to be buried in the cemetery. A commemorative stone was prepared and erected on the grave only in May 1945.Engraved on it are the functions, the names of the airmen and an inscription - a quote from the Gospel in Danish: "Ingen er storre end den, der satter sit liv til for andre" (No one is greater than he who gives his life for another). In the corner of the quarters lies a marble plaque with a crowned eagle, funded by the Polish Association in Ringsted, with the inscription in broken Polish: "From Poliakuw of Ringsted in Homage to the Fallen Lotmniks".

There is also a monument there, founded by the Danes on the initiative of survivors of the Stutthof concentration camp, and made on the anniversary of the 25th anniversary of the end of the Second World War by Kazimierz Danilewicz, a well-known sculptor from Warsaw's Żoliborz district.

The pedestal bears two aeroplanes, and the inscription in Danish on the walls reads: "Til minde om polske flyvere i 25-aret for afslutningen af 2 verdenskrig rejst af Danskere pa initiativ af overlevende fra koncentrations - lejren Stutthof" (The monument was erected in memory of Polish airmen on the 25th anniversary of the end of the Second World War - founded by the Danes on the initiative of survivors of the Stutthof concentration camp). On both sides of the granite plinth, below the chessboard, an inscription in Danish and Polish reads: "For jeres frihed og vores" (For your freedom and our freedom). Every year on 17 September, representatives of the Polish and British embassies, the Danish Polish community and local authorities lay wreaths at the monument, and ecumenical services are held in the local church.

Related persons:
Time of origin:
1970
Creator:
Kazimierz Danilewicz(preview)
Bibliography:
  • Grzesiuk-Olszewska, Polska rzeźba pomnikowa w latach 1945-1995, Warszawa 1995, s. 184, 321.
Keywords:
Author:
prof. Andrzej Pieńkos
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