Ciechanów – Monument of Struggle, Martyrdom and Victory

I noticed this monument in Ciechanów, although it would be hard to miss as it’s so large and imposing by the side of the road. It was installed here in 1988 on the initiative of the Ciechanów Land Lovers’ Society and it was designed by Henryk Wróblewski.

The memorial reads “In memory of the inhabitants of the Ciechanów region who died and were murdered during World War II.” There’s now a problem though, the ‘victory’ element has been interpreted by some as being from a time when Russians imposed their imperialism on the people of Poland and so some want this entire monument removed. This feels a sub-optimal situation, they can always just rename the monument or add a new interpretation.