Getting Rid of Soviet Past: Poland to demolish about 500 Soviet monuments

Poland plans to demolish about 500 Soviet monuments throughout the country like this one in Warsaw. Polish authority wants to remove all reminders of Soviet invasion and subsequent decades-long political dominance from the streets.

The decision was announced by the Institute of National Remembrance. It’s responsible for investigating crimes against the Polish nation. According to the head of the Institute, the preservation of the monuments was “a fatal mistake” and they should have been demolished in the early 1990s. Polish authority also announced the streets connected with the Communist past of the country must disappear from the Polish cities.

But Polish government will continue to care for the graves of the Soviet soldiers located in Poland.

Andrzej Zawistowski, head of the department of the Institute of national remembrance: “It’s hard to imagine how a monument to Hitler, Goering or other Nazi criminals can stand in Europe. Why should the monuments to Lenin stand? He also had blood on his hands and built a totalitarian state, which lasted much longer than Hitler’s one. This is one reason. Another one is that we want to be masters of our land and decide what we want to do.”