In 1915-1916, heavy fighting between Russian and Austro-Hungarian troops took place in the Kowel area. The latter troops included the Polish Legions.
Polish legionaries killed in the battles for Kowel were buried in the cemetery on today's Independence Street (formerly Lutska Street). The War Graves Department of the Ministry of Public Works arranged this burial site in 1930, marking out two plots. The larger of the two plots now contains 146 graves, with the main monument located there.
The smaller plot has been preserved in a fragmentary state - during cleaning work in the cemetery in the 1990s, 10 grave frames and 5 crosses were found, as well as the remains of a fence. These were not suitable for restoration. Therefore, in 1998, Polish scouts from the Lodz Scouting and Guiding Association (ZHP), who take care of Polish war graves in Volhynia, built an unnamed mass grave of the soldiers buried here.

Compiled by T. Zachara / MKiDN, IX 2025