Statement of the Coalition of Polish Americans on Katyn Memorial in Jersey City

On Monday April 30, 2018 Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop announced plans to remove Katyn Forest Massacre Monument from its present location at the Exchange Place. This  important memorial was erected by Jersey City’s Polish American community decades ago through due process and hard work. The Council of Polish Americans joins Jersey City’s residents and the larger Polish American community in objecting to the lack of due process and the plan itself. Jersey City’s Polish Americans have been an integral part of the city’s history and contributed greatly to the city’s revival. Many were refugees from the devastation of World War II, the persecution created by the dual occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Many more came during the postwar years, escaping the Soviet imposed Communist regime. Like all immigrants, they brought their history with them and created ways to remember and honor the victims of war crimes. The Katyn memorial statue commemorates the massacre of tens of thousands of Polish officers and leaders by the Soviet Union in 1940. The statue is an integral part of Jersey City’s cultural and historical landscape because it reflects the historical past of its residents. The Katyn memorial statue has been a fixture at the Exchange Place since 1991. The recent plan by the Exchange Place Special Improvement District to develop the park should have no bearing on the fate of the memorial. As Councilman James Solomon rightly observed, no changes should have been proposed without consulting the residents. This is not a decision to be made behind closed doors by politicians and developers. We support the efforts of Jersey City residents who claim that improvements can be made without disturbing the memorial. We join Jersey City residents, and the larger Polish American community, in stressing the importance we place on history and memory in our collective American experience. We appeal to Mayor Steven Fulop and the Jersey City Council to organize a productive dialogue among all of the relevant constituents, including Polish-American community leaders. Let’s find a resolution which does not require a permanent relocation of the Katyn Memorial and keep the communal sense of history the monument represents. The Memorial’s home is Exchange Place in Jersey City. Coalition of Polish Americans May 07, 2018 177 Broadway, Clark, NJ 07066 www.coalitionpa.org Washington DC Office Phone #z (202) 780-6501