Article recalling the issue of the possible construction of a monument to Żwirki i Wigury in Cierlicko and the Czech reaction to the erection of the monument and the inaccuracies associated with the press notes on this event (Source: "Dziennik Polski", Czeski Cieszyn 1934, R: 1, no. 76, p. 328, after: Silesian Digital Library).

A modernised reading of the text

New hype around the Żwirki i Wigury monument.

Unsavoury discussion in the Czech press.

A few days ago, the "Dziennik Polski" reported that the Committee for the Construction of a Monument to Żwirki i Wigury in Cierlicko intends to build a modest monument to our heroic aviators at the site of the crash with its own forces, postponing the construction of a Polish-Czech monument at the church in Cierlicko. This news was picked up by the "Centropres" agency and reported in a distorted form to the Czech press. In order to clarify the matter, we state the following: The Polish position on this matter is firm and unchanged. Immediately after the Cierlick catastrophe, the appointment of a Czech parish priest in this Polish municipality overturned any long-standing Polish "contra spem spero" that the denigration struggle would cease.

We said clearly and openly: as long as you do not take the Czech parish priest away, you will not change your course towards us, we cannot work together. Therefore, we have postponed until now the matter of erecting a joint monument near the church, and we will glorify it ourselves on the site of the disaster. We will erect the monument with you when you replace a Pole as pastor of the pastorate of Čierlice. That is all. What we are dealing with is your exaltation of this doubly tragic affair. Mr P. of "Český slova" discusses the construction of the memorial without Czechs and writes:

"...they (Poles) should reckon more with the memorial to the tragically dead airmen. All disputes and feuds are subdued before the majesty of death in all civilised nations; the more so should the Polish activists who caused these disputes realise this...".

Yes, in all civilised nations, in the face of death, all disputes and feuds cease. In the face of the Żwirki i Wigury tragedy, was it to prove this... that a Czech was appointed parish priest in Cierlicko? Indeed, an astonishing lack of civilisation... in the Poles!!! Another specialist in this matter is Mr Smyczek, a Pole by birth, who even received allowances from "Macierza" for his studies, then treasurer of "Schulverein", and today an "activist" from Matice. This gentleman makes no bones about the fact that the Poles are not going to build this monument together with the Czechs, but he gets passionate about the matter and writes as follows (we quote verbatim):

Both Polish heroes will have a monument built on the site of the misfortune in Horní Cierlick, to which it would be engraved in gold letters:
MY
ŻWIRKO A WIGURA
Osudu pohár jsme dopili
u Těrlicka
v lese jsme život svůj skončili
u Těrlicka
Těrlicko zas přistane poslední
Bůh nám určil
v Těrlicku zůstanem zvěčnění
v světle mohyl.
Než Češi-bratři zde vzdali čest
u Těrlicka
nám posvátné toto místo jest
u Těrlicka.
Kež slovo Těrlicko stanou mostem míru a bratrství-Slovanům přinese
v sobě víru

This inscription is to be engraved in Czech according to the idea and wish of Mr Smyczek. One could laugh at all this if it were not so painful. So we will pay tribute to our heroes and erect a monument ourselves.