Comment by the Information and Press Department on disappearance of a memorial plaque for Red Army liberators, from Gniezno, Poland

A memorial plaque in the Polish city of Gniezno in the Wielkopolska Voivodeship commemorating the Red Army soldiers who liberated the city from Nazi occupation during WWII has been stolen. The perpetrators chose their time carefully: on January 21, Gniezno marks Liberation Day.

The circumstances of the incident are not known yet but what can be stated with certainty is that the act undoubtedly shows disrespect for the history of our united fight against Nazism. Moreover, the plaque is included in the bilateral list of memorial sites of Russian (Soviet) defenders of the fatherland killed in Poland. It is therefore another violation of the Russian-Polish intergovernmental agreements stipulating preservation and, in case of necessity, protection of the memorial legacy, including protection from vandalism.

It is no secret that the regular occurrence of such incidents is a direct consequence of the Polish authorities’ policy of connivance in order to eliminate “unwanted” memorials that remind people of the Red Army’s contribution to the country’s liberation. We call on the Polish officials to finally remember their international legal commitments as a civilised country and a member of the global community.