Polish Traces

Polish graves in Lund

If you ever find yourself in Lund, in southern Sweden, take a moment to visit the Norra kyrkogården cemetery, where you’ll find the “Polish Alley.” There are about 40 Polish graves there, most of which belong to former concentration camp prisoners. The alley is easy to find, marked by a beautiful sculpture by Nándor Wagner, a Hungarian artist who lived and worked in Sweden and Japan. The steel sculpture, unveiled in 1963, is called “Angel,” but it is also a Monument to the Victims of Concentration Camps. Wagner himself had to flee Hungary in 1956, so the fact that he is the creator of this monument to the victims of Nazi Germany carries even greater significance.

The sculpture stands 430 cm high on a stone symbolizing the coast of Sweden, where many of our compatriots arrived. Beneath the sculpture lies a plaque featuring the White Eagle. The sculpture symbolizes the right to freedom and the need to fight against totalitarian systems, and was funded by the Polish diaspora in Sweden and other countries. The monument was unveiled on 27 October 1963, by General Zdzisław Wincenty Przyjałkowski, president of the Polish Council of Refugees in Stockholm and a veteran of FWW, the Polish-Ukrainian War, the Polish-Bolshevik War, and SWW.

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