Situated on the site of former quarry pits and opened in 1825, Montmartre Cemetery holds special significance for Poles. This was even acknowledged by the cemetery authorities, who named one of the avenues near the main entrance ‘Avenue des Polonais’.

Along this avenue are four Polish mass graves, characterised by their original architectural forms and decorations referencing national symbolism. Among other things, they feature an image of the Polish Eagle taking flight, divided coats of arms depicting the Eagle and Pogoń (the symbol of a united Poland and Lithuania, i.e. the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) as well as motifs commemorating the November Uprising, such as scythes and sabres, banners, and the ‘Star of Perseverance’ with the inscription ‘Usque ad finem’ (until the end). These gravestones bear the following conventional inscriptions: ‘Members of the National Government’, ‘Exules Poloni Memoriae Suorum’, and ‘Polish Democratic Society’.

Mass graves were an expression of a collective desire to preserve the memory of national events and the figures associated with them. They made it possible to honour those who had made their mark on history by devoting everything to the national cause, despite the often modest lives they led in exile. In order to create mass graves, perpetual leases were purchased for the use of the land so that the remains of the deceased, who had passed away at various times, could be gathered in the tomb. On many occasions, coffins brought from various locations were gathered there, and monuments featuring original architectural forms were erected above the graves. The originator of this idea was Leon Stempowski, a soldier who took part in the Uszyce Uprising in Podolia in 1831.