| The Partisans | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Andrzej Pitynski |
| Year | 1983 |
| Type | aluminum |
| Dimensions | 7 m× 4 m× 10 m(280 in× 160 in× 390 in) |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
The Partisans is a 1979 aluminum sculpture by the Polish-American sculptor Andrzej Pitynski that has been exhibited in Boston, Massachusetts, since 1983. The sculpture depicts Polish anti-communist "cursed soldiers". It is dedicated to freedom fighters worldwide.
The sculpture is 10 meters (33 ft) long, 7 m (23 ft) high, and 4 m (13 ft) wide. [1] This modern aluminum sculpture depicts five riders and their horses. The horsemen carry spears on their back, and with their bowed heads the sculpture intends to convey the themes of crucifixion and sacrifice. [2] According to its creator they are intended to represent:
Five armed riders in a marching formation; five desperate men who resemble forest ghosts more than they resemble human beings ... five partisans who are tattered, mortally tired, who are bleeding from endless battles, escapes, skirmishes ... immersed with their own thoughts about the tragedy of their nation, who are riding their horses, stumbling from exhaustion. [1]
The sculpture is a symbolic representation of the cursed soldiers – anti-communist Polish partisans who fought against the Polish communist regime following the communist takeover of Poland in the aftermath of World War II [2] (and not, as some [2] [3] sources erroneously suggest, World War II era anti-Nazi Polish partisans). The sculptor however dedicated his work to "all freedom fighters around the world". [4]
I was creating 'The Partisans' in the United States, when Poland was changing, when the SB was murdering priests, students, and workers. I was creating this monument thinking about them all, about those thousands of the bravest Sons and Daughters of the Polish Nation, who were the first to stand up to the Soviet communism. They were betrayed by world and forgotten by God – a choice they made themselves – in the forest units of: NOW, AK, WiN, NSZ. They fought bravely with NKVD, Soviet Red Army; and with Polish traitors from the UB, KBW, MO, ORMO, [with all] 'consolidators of the people's [communist] regime. They fought because they never reconciled to give up their freedom. [They were] hunted in the forests like wild beasts, they were tortured in the UB dungeons, they were abused with the vindictive pleasure [of their oppressors], they were murdered in the MO torture houses, were buried illicitly at night in the graves that are unknown to this day. It is for THEM, that I created this symbol of the Golgotha of Polish Heroes. [1]
— Andrzej Pitynski
Pitynski designed the sculpture in 1979 for the Johnson Atelier – The Technical Institute of Sculpture, with financial support from the Sculpture Foundation. [1] [4] The sculpture was met with a degree of controversy, and Pitynski received threats from the sympathizers of the communist People's Republic of Poland. [4]
The sculpture has been displayed in Boston since 1983. [2] At first it was given to the city for temporary display, but it has since become a permanent monument. [2] Until January 2006, the statue was located on Boston Common, near the corner of Charles and Beacon streets. City officials cited concerns that the statue lacked a proper pedestal and stored it in a warehouse, which triggered protests from the Polish-American community and from the sculptor himself. [4] [5] [6] In July of that year, the statue was moved to a new public location, thanks to assistance from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). [5] It was located on the South Boston waterfront near the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art and the MBTA's World Trade Center Station on the Silver Line. [2] [5] The statue was rededicated in the presence of the area's Polish American community and of local officials, a gesture endorsed both by Pitynski and by the Polish Consulate in Boston. [5] [7] On November 17, 2018, the statue was permanently relocated to the center median of D Street, at the intersection with Congress Street. [8] [9]
National Armed Forces was a Polish right-wing underground military organization of the National Democracy operating from 1942. During World War II, NSZ troops fought against Nazi Germany and communist partisans. There were also cases of fights with the Home Army.
Zygmunt Szendzielarz was the commander of the Polish 5th Wilno Brigade of the Home Army and after the Second World War fought against the Red Army.
Poland was invaded and annexed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the invasion of Poland in 1939. In the pre-war Polish territories annexed by the Soviets the first Soviet partisan groups were formed in 1941, soon after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Those groups fought against the Germans, but conflicts with Polish partisans were also common.
The "cursed soldiers" or "indomitable soldiers" were a heterogeneous array of anti-Soviet-imperialist and anti-communist Polish resistance movements formed in the later stages of World War II and in its aftermath by members of the Polish Underground State. The above terms, introduced in the early 1990s, reflect the stance of many of the diehard soldiers.
The anti-communist resistance in Poland, also referred to as the Polish anti-communist insurrection fought between 1944 and 1953, was an anti communist and anti-Soviet armed struggle by the Polish Underground against the Soviet domination of Poland by the Soviet-installed People's Republic of Poland, since the end of World War II in Europe. The guerrilla warfare conducted by the resistance movement formed during the war, included an array of military attacks launched against communist prisons, state security offices, detention facilities for political prisoners, and prison camps set up across the country by the Stalinist authorities.
Józef Kuraś, noms-de-guerre "Orzeł" (Eagle) and from June 1943 "Ogień" (Fire), was born in Waksmund near Nowy Targ. He served as lieutenant in the Polish Army during the invasion of Poland, and became an underground member of Armia Krajowa and Bataliony Chłopskie in the Podhale region. After the end of World War II, he continued his fight against the Communist authorities and was one of the leaders of the so-called "cursed soldiers".
Andrzej Piotr Pityński was a Polish-American monumental sculptor who lived and worked in the United States. A book of his works was published in 2008.
Danuta Helena Siedzikówna was a Polish medical orderly in the 4th Squadron of the 5th Wilno Brigade of the Home Army. In 1946 she served with the Brigade's 1st Squadron in Poland's Pomerania region. Considered a national heroine, she was captured, tortured and sentenced to death at the age of 17 by the communist authorities.
Franciszek Przysiężniak - was a lieutenant in the Polish Army, an officer of anti-communist resistance groups National Military Organization (NOW) and National Military Union (NZW).
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