Uprising Memorial Protected

Insider News 15 February 2021 Insider 0

Hidden in a city center courtyard, a memorial marking the spot where a fallen insurgent was first buried has been entered into the Register of Monuments by the city’s conservator.

Found on ul. Bracka 5, the memorial was unveiled in 1945 by the combatant’s mother.

Born in 1923, Antoni Szczęsny Godlewski was just 17-years-old when he was killed in action on August 8th, 1944. Raised in Warsaw, Godlewski attended secret classes held by the Warsaw University of Technology and was deeply involved in insurgent activities: recognized by his peers for his bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Cross of Valor and the Order of Virtuti Militaria, fifth class.

Photo: Zofia Machowska Archives

Nicknamed Antek Rozpylacz on account of his weapon of preference, Godlewski was fatally wounded whilst attacking a German machinegun post on Jerozolimskie 25.

First buried in the courtyard on Bracka 5, in 1945 his mother painted an inscription in August of that year informing mourners that his body had been exhumed and interred in Powązki Military Cemetery. Around 1.5 meters in length, this inscription has survived to this day and has come to be regarded as a key point of remembrance.

“The memorial site in question is of great importance to veterans’ milieu and the inhabitants of Warsaw,” said an official statement. “The legal protection of the site is in the social interest and cultivates the memory of one of the most important events in the history of Warsaw.”