What to Know
- Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Polish leaders have reached an agreement over the proposed relocation of the Katyń Memorial statue
- The statue honors victims of a 1940 Soviet massacre of Poles
- A proposed relocation of the statue earlier this month sparked outrage among Polish leaders
A statue that has been a fixture at Exchange Place in Jersey City for more than two decades will move to a new location following an agreement between the mayor of Jersey City and Polish officials.
The city and the Exchange Place Special Improvement District sparked outrage earlier this month when they announced plans to move the statue — which honors victims of a 1940 Soviet massacre of Poles — as part of a renovation of the plaza where it currently stands.
On Saturday, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Polish leaders said they’d agreed on a new home for the Katyń Memorial. They plan to announce the location, time frame and moving process at a press conference Monday morning.
“I met w/ Eric Lubaczewski + senior officials from the Polish Govt + we have a resolution as a win-win,” Fulop tweeted. “The goal was one that respects/cares/keeps the monument in an extremely prominent location to honor sacrifices while also giving #JerseyCity a chance to re-purpose our waterfront.”
Tensions over the proposed statue relocation escalated after the head of the Exchange Place Special Improvement District called the statue “a little gruesome,” adding that he “[didn’t] think the statue’s appropriate for a major metropolitan area.” The bronze statue depicts a Polish soldier bound, gagged and impaled by a bayonet.
Stanislaw Karczewski, the speaker of the Polish senate, denounced the proposed removal, calling it a “scandalous and very unpleasant situation,” prompting Fulop to issue his own statement saying Karczewski had “zero credibility”
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“The fact that a known anti-Semite, a known white nationalist and a known Holocaust denier thinks that he will be able to influence Jersey City parks or policies is laughable,” Fulop said at the time.
Saturday's announcement comes several days before Polish President Andrzej Duda is scheduled to visit Jersey City, Fulop’s office said. President Duda will meet with Fulop and local officials during his visit.
The sculptor who created the Katyń Memorial statue, Andrzej Pitynski, will attend Monday’s press conference, Fulop’s office added.
