Above: Relief depicting Soviet soldiers and Polish civilians; dedications (in Polish and Russian); and the main passageway to the cemetery.
The Soviet Military Cemetery is immense. Its size conveys the impression of power, importance and permanence. The cemetery honors not just the individual but an entire group, as a collective reminder of their accomplishments.
The sheer size of the cemetery and its austere style sends a clear message: this is hallowed ground and a place that demands respect.
Below: main passageway to the cemetery, flanked on either side by a statue of a Soviet soldier.
The cemetery is dedicated to Soviet soldiers, yet the names engraved on the gravestones, although Russian-sounding, are written not in Russian but in Polish. Maybe the builders of the cemetery wanted to use Latin letters to accommodate the native Polish population, whose language, Polish, is written in Latin lettering. Yet it would be reasonable to expect that in a cemetery dedicated to Russian soldiers, the language on the gravestones would be Russian, not Polish. One can only hope that this cemetery, erected under the regime of Joseph Stalin, is not a fraud.
Below: gravestones bearing the names of the soldiers interred. Note the use of Latin lettering.
Given the sheer size of the cemetery. the claim that over 21,000 soldiers are buried there seems plausible.
Below: Mass graves where thousands of soldiers are interred.
Apparently the cemetery receives visitors. That is evident by the presence of flowers and markers left at several of the graves. However, there seems to be no record of the names of the visitors or the time of their visits. It should be noted that the during the author’s visit to the site, which was in the middle of day and in clear weather, the place was virtually deserted.
Below: evidence of recent visitation.
The cemetery is dominated by a large obelisk. Near the tip are affixed red stars, The red star was the symbol of the Red Army.
Below: The obelisk, the central feature of the cemetery.
Rows of graves. The obelisk in the background.
It is apparent that the cemetery was built to remind the Polish people of the sacrifices made by the Soviet Union on Poland’s behalf.
Below: Dedications in Polish indicating the number of Soviet soldiers interred at the cemetery and the Soviet armies involved in the liberation of Poland. Identical dedications are also in Russian.
Below: Statues and reliefs depicting Soviet soldiers. Example of Socialist realism.
Note the mass graves in the background.
The cemetery contains artwork showing a grateful Polish population greeting their Soviet liberators.
Below: Reliefs depicting civilians greeting the Soviet Army. For some, this is the truth, for others propaganda.
If the cemetery is accepted at face value, it is an impressive monument extolling the valor and glory of the Red Army and the Soviet Union. If it is viewed as propaganda, then the site becomes a contrivance that uses the war to promote a political message.
