The monument erected in the new Siberians’ Square commemorates the ordeal of our fellow countrymen and will also serve as a history lesson for present and future generations.
The ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m. with a Holy Mass for the Siberians and their families, which will be celebrated at the Church of the Holy Trinity by the Bishop of Legnica, Zbigniew Kiernikowski. From there, participants will march to the ceremony venue. The column and the numerous flag-bearing delegations to Siberians’ Square will be led by the Orchestra of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław and the honor guard company of the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade named after General Stanisław Maczek in Świętoszów.
At noon, accompanied by an honor guard and a ceremonial company, the monument will be solemnly unveiled. Those present will include representatives of state and local authorities and the founders, hierarchs of Churches of various denominations, Siberian exile and veterans’ communities, young people, and residents of Legnica.
After the monument is consecrated, a roll call of remembrance will be held in accordance with military ceremony. The event will conclude with the laying of wreaths and flowers and the departure of the honor guard company.
The “Monument to the Exiles to Siberia” was designed by the renowned Legnica artist Grzegorz Niemyjski, a graduate and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. The monument, commemorating the victims of the “inhuman land,” consists of a granite installation recreating a stone railway track and stone boulders rising behind it—a symbol of the deportation of Poles to Siberia.
The final block of the composition bears the inscription: In memory of the Polish Exiles to Siberia in the years 1940–1956, in tribute to their martyrdom and fidelity to the ideals of freedom and independence – the people of Legnica. The composition is completed by a bronze plaque with a bas-relief eagle, placed on the back of the block.
The cost of rebuilding Wrocławska Street and constructing Siberians’ Square and the Monument to the Exiles to Siberia exceeds PLN 2 million. The Polska Miedź Foundation granted a donation of PLN 250,000 to co-finance construction of the monument.
UM Legnica/ii