FIRST -- Crowned King of Poland - Baltimore, MD - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

The plaque says, "Fire has been used artistically to symbolize a rebirth or transformation. In this monument a symbolic fire envelops the Katyn Martys in its flames and raises them spiritually into the pantheon of national heroes of Poland.

The crowned Polish Eagle, shown in silhouette emerges from the core of the flame of the monument. The White Eagle has been the national symbol of Poland for over 1,000 years. The eagle lost its crown during Communist domination in the years after World War II. The crown was restored in 1989 when Poland regained its sovereignty.

Boleslaw Chrobry (Bolestaw the Brave), the first crowned King of Poland, is shown holding the legendary spear of St. Maurice. This spear, presented to him by the Holy Roman Emperor in the year 1000, signified the sovereignty and independence of the Polish nation.

Three Polish Officers at the base of the monument represent the victims of the Katyn massacre. The only female figure depicted on the right is Lieutenant Jawidga Lewandoska, a Polish Air Force Pilot. She is the only known woman to share the fate of her brother officers. Higher on the sculpture, the Martyrs murdered at Katyn by the Soviet secrete police are depicted by other figures.

Zawisza Czarny (Zawisza the Block), a Polish knight of the 15th century was famous throughout Europe. In 1410, he fought in the Battle of Grünwald, the last epic battle of the Middle Ages, in which the combined armies of Poland and Lithuania defeated the German Teutonic Knights. In 1429, he died fighting the Ottoman Turkish invasion of the Balkans.

King Jan III Sobieski, shown in the uniform of his famous heavy cavalry, led his Winged Hussars, armed with lances depicted in the monument, and defeated the Ottoman Turks, lifting the siege of Vienna in 1683. This is one of the most important battles of European history because it halted the expansion of the Ottoman Empire for all time. because of his exploits, Sobieski was called "The Lion of the North".

Kazimierz Pulaski is another Polish hero of the America Revolution. General Pulaski recruited many horsemen in the Baltimore area and organized a Cavalry Brigade. Thus, he became known as the "Father of the American Cavalry". He is credited with saving George Washington's retreating army at the Battle of Brandywine. In 1779, leading an attack against the British in the battle of Savanna, Georgia, he was mortally wounded.

King Wladyslaw III shown dressed for battle, fought against the Ottoman Turks until 1444 when he was killed in the battle of Warna on the Black Sea. His nickname of Warenczyk is derived from Warna.


Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the "Father of American Artillery", served under George Washington in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The fortified defenses he designed at Saratoga were decisive in the battle against the British. His engineering skills in designing these and the defenses at West Point and Philadelphia earned him the rank of General.
Kosciuszko is credited as being one of America's first civil rights advocates. In his Last Will & Testament he named his friend Thomas Jefferson as his executor and bequeathed his entire American estate to be used to purchase the freedom of Negro slaves and to educate them to become useful citizens.
In 1784 Kosciuszko returned to Poland. He became a Polish national hero when he led the fight to overturn the Partitions of Poland by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Although unsuccessful, he instilled a strong sense of national pride into all the citizens of Poland.
Supporting and identifying with the common man was the source of his personal fam and popularity. He is pictured wearing a peasant's coat and a four-cornered "Rogatywka" hat and carrying a scythe. Scythes straightened into lances were common weapons of Kosciuszko's peasant-soldiers. The rogatywka with its characteristic square shape has been symbolic of the Polish soldier since Kosciuszko's time. It can be seen in various places on the monument."

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