Bolesławiec has another monument to the history of the homeland, this time dedicated to the generation of pioneers of Polish identity in the Recovered Territories. Instead of a detailed account of the ceremony (we published the programme in the previous issue of “Głos”) – we quote the essential document: the foundation charter, which explains the meaning of this social initiative that has provoked controversial opinions among local extremists.
FOUNDATION CHARTER FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND UNVEILING OF THE MONUMENT TO POLES RESETTLED FROM THE EASTERN BORDERLANDS OF THE SECOND POLISH REPUBLIC.
On the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first railway transport carrying Poles resettled from Drohobych Land to the Polish Recovered Territories – we pass on to posterity a symbol of our fate, our national history and martyrdom, our love for the land of our youth – dearest to our hearts – and for our new Homeland in the land of the Piast forefathers.
This is the life testament of our departing generation.
A message for the children and grandchildren who were born here, live here and have their own family homes, who will remain forever in the proud town on the Bóbr, which we wrested from the ruins and ashes of war, rebuilt through toil and the work of our own hands, and built with our hearts – as a symbol of the rebirth of Polish identity, as Poland’s return to the Oder, Neisse and Bóbr after centuries of absence.
There is no return to dreams and the past. The cruel time of war spared us none of the suffering, humiliation, pain at the loss of loved ones or horrors of occupation. We left our family cottages and homes in the East forever, but this is no time to reopen unhealed wounds. We came here, stayed and will remain. It is our patriotic duty and heartfelt impulse to set into the pedestal of this austere monument to the Kresy people soil from our native lands: from Polish cemeteries in LVIV, VILNIUS, DROHOBYCH, GRODNO, NOVOGRUDOK and STANISLAVIV, where the ashes of our closest ones rest for eternity. We owe this remembrance to our ancestors. May history and memory of our national past endure in the endless relay of generations.
The obelisk is not a monument to glory and heroism. It is a symbol of our work, our perseverance and our service to the Homeland, Mother Poland, and of our authentic patriotism. It is simple and austere—like our fate and the biographies of settlers on the western borders of the Republic of Poland.
“When human memory fails—let the stones speak,” Cardinal of the Millennium Stefan Wyszyński taught us. May this work and this symbol therefore bear witness to historical truth, to endurance and passing, and to the need for work and national understanding beyond divisions.
May it be a loud call for Poland’s greatness and lasting peace in a uniting Europe.
Bolesławiec, 17 September 1995.
Let us not fear the pathos of great words at solemn moments.
Together, we experienced such a great day: moments of historical reflection, contemplation of the human fate, patriotic elation and remembrance of the undeserved wrongs suffered by the oldest generation of our compatriots. As the event’s conclusion, let us quote the concise statement of councillor ZDZISŁAW ABRAMOWICZ:
It was a moving ceremony. Those resettled from the East, including my family, had waited a long time for this monument. A valuable and very timely initiative. The originators deserve congratulations.