Warsaw is a city with a rich, but also painful history, marked by the dramatic events of the Second World War. One of the most important and poignant elements of the capital’s landscape are the memorial plaques designed by Karol Tchorek. These stone monuments to history commemorate the places of combat and martyrdom of Warsaw’s inhabitants, recalling the heroism and tragedy of the years of occupation.
Tchorek plaques – history of creation
After the end of the war, Varsovians spontaneously marked the places of execution and fighting by erecting wooden crosses and makeshift plaques. In the 1940s, the authorities decided to make these initiatives official by entrusting the marking of memorials to the Civic Committee for the Protection of Monuments to Struggle and Martyrdom. In 1949, a competition for a uniform design for the plaque was held, and the winner was Karol Tchorek, a sculptor from Warsaw. His design stood out for its simplicity and clarity, with the Cross of Valour embedded in a sandstone slab as the main motif.
Arrangement and design of the plaques
The first plaques began to be placed in urban spaces in the 1950s, with the peak of this initiative between 1963 and 1965. The plaques were usually set into the walls of buildings or left as free-standing monoliths. The design of such a sandstone plaque was very eloquent in its simplicity. At the centre of the relief was the Cross of Valour in simplified form, with a shield with an engraved inscription in the centre. The standard content proclaimed: “A place hallowed by the blood of Poles fallen for the freedom of the fatherland”, although there were several variants of the inscription. The inscriptions on the plaques were made in a distinctive carved font, which was not used on other monuments and commemorative plaques. Interestingly, spelling, grammatical or historical errors were found on some.
Adrian Grycuk, CC BY-SA 3.0 PL, via Wikimedia Commons
Devastation and contemporary care of plaques
The contemporary fate of the Tchorka plaques is not free of controversy and acts of vandalism. In 2021, the most serious damage occurred when more than a hundred objects fell victim to mass devastation by representatives of the Gazeta Polska Club. They changed the word ‘Nazis’ to ‘Germans’ by placing small stickers on the panels. The incident sparked widespread public debate and the case was taken to the police. After investigating the matter, it became clear that the glue had penetrated the structure of the stone, and restorers often had to sand down entire slabs. From some objects, the trace of the devastation could not be removed. The cost of all the restoration work amounted to a total of more than PLN 100,000. According to the prosecutor’s office, however, the plaques were neither destroyed nor even damaged and the case was dropped. In 2023, 164 commemorative plaques were officially entered in the register of monuments of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship.
There have also been known cases where sandstone plaques were painted over by building owners and their restoration required specialised conservation work. Some of the plaques, on the other hand, were removed during renovations and never restored, which raises objections among historians and varsavians.
Tchorka plaques – historical and artistic value
Tchorek plaques have become an integral part of Warsaw’s urban space, serving both an educational and a memorial function. However, their unified shape is somewhat controversial – critics accuse them of a lack of individuality, as well as random and selective placement. Many of the plaques have not stood the test of time and have been damaged, and the inscriptions contain errors. Despite these imperfections, they are a valuable testimony to the post-war politics of remembrance and are one of the most recognisable elements of the capital’s landscape.
Thanks to contemporary initiatives such as the Memorial Plaques project, it is possible to learn about the history of each of the surviving plaques using modern technology, including mobile apps and QR codes.
Source: tvn24.pl, polska-zbrojna.pl
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