The symbolic site—known as the Memorial Site for Poland 1939–1945—stands on the grounds of the former Kroll Opera House, where Adolf Hitler announced the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.
At the heart of the installation is a 30-ton glacial boulder, bearing an inscription in Polish and German: "To the Polish victims of Nazism and the victims of German occupation and terror in Poland 1939–1945."
An additional trilingual information plaque in Polish, German and English explains that German occupation in Poland left "unimaginable suffering and devastation."
Poland’s Culture Minister Hanna Wróblewska, attended the ceremony on Monday, alongside her German counterpart Wolfram Weimer.
Wróblewska called the unveiling "the first tangible step toward a proper memorial to Polish victims of the Third Reich in Germany’s capital."
She added that a monument is not only a gesture of remembrance but also an act of responsibility — one that requires courage to confront the past “without avoidance, silence or forgetting."
The temporary installation paves the way for a more permanent project — the German-Polish House — which is intended to become a lasting memorial, educational space and site for dialogue.
The initiative began in 2017, when 140 signatories called for the creation of a memorial in Berlin to honour the millions of Poles who suffered and died under Nazi occupation between 1939 and 1945.
According to Wróblewska, "there is scarcely a Polish family untouched by this period."
She concluded with a call to shared remembrance: “We owe it to the victims. We owe it to our children and grandchildren.”
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP