Polish President Andrzej Duda laid a wreath on May 16 at the base of a statue memorializing the World War II massacre of Polish soldiers, while protestors in the background, despite being restrained by security forces and the U.S. Secret Service, shouted “Shame! Shame!” in opposition to the statue’s pending removal from Exchange Place.
The memorial commemorates the 1940 Soviet murder of 22,000 Polish officers in Katyn Forest in the western Soviet Union. Although Duda was in the United States on official United Nations business, he met briefly at the site with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop in an attempt to play down what has become an international conflict.
Created by Polish-American monument sculptor Andrzej Pitynski, the statue was moved to Exchange Place in 1991. Jersey City, along with officials of the Exchange Place Special Improvement District, have proposed moving the statue to a new location one block away on York Street. The city intends to create a park at the statue’s current location.
While this started out as a local issue, the incident escalated into an international conflict when Fulop exchanged angry Tweets with the head of the Polish Senate, in which Fulop accused the senate leader of being a Holocaust denier.
Poland recently enacted legislation commonly called “the Holocaust bill” which makes it illegal to accuse the Polish nation of complicity in the Holocaust and other atrocities – a law that has put Duda also at odds with the nation of Israel.
Polish Senate Speaker Stanislaw Karczewski criticized Fulop for plans to move the statue. Fulop then responded calling Karczewski a Holocaust denier, and “a known anti-Semite,” remarks Karczewski in press accounts called “offensive” and “entirely untrue.”
Fulop’s grandparents were Holocaust survivors. His grandmother was in the Auschwitz death camp (in Poland) where more than one million Jews were murdered. His grandfather was in a Nazi labor camp.
Making peace?
Heavy security that included the U.S. Secret Service, Polish agents, and Jersey City police kept the scores of protestors from getting near Duda during his brief visit to the monument. He previously visited the monument in 2016.
Duda, who was elected as president on a right wing ticket and has been criticized for his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Warsaw last year, arrived for a brief meeting with Fulop under a rain drenched tent near the statue.
The chat with Fulop was brief, but described by Fulop as “fairly straight-forward.”
Duda apparently preferred that the statue not be moved, but wanted to be assured that the statue was respected.
“I said I couldn’t keep it there because we are building a $5 million park for Jersey City residents, but I will make sure the new location is respected and dignified,” Fulop told the Hudson Reporter.
The visit lasted only a few minutes. But there was time for an exchange of gifts. Fulop gave Duda a small replica of the Katyn statue and the flag of Jersey City. Duda gave Fulop a book in English about the massacre.
Duda did not give a statement to the press despite a large contingent of Polish and international media on the site. Then Duda, and his wife, Agata, placed a wreath of flowers at the foot of the statue before hurrying off.
Politically, Duda and Fulop are light years apart. Duda, like Trump, opposed some immigrant proposals for housing refugees in Poland. Fulop has led the charge against Trump immigration policies by declaring Jersey City a sanctuary city. Duda, unlike Trump, is hugely popular in Poland with a 72 percent approval rate as of earlier this year.
Several dozen protestors restricted to the archway of the Exchange Place Center building shouted “Shame” at Duda’s arrival, and then sang the Polish national anthem.
At one point a protester, apparently upset by Duda’s acquiescence to the statue’s relocation, intruded into a restricted area holding a sign for Duda asking, “Where is your honor and dignity?” but was escorted out by police.
“If he doesn’t move, lock him up!” shouted Public Safety Director James Shea.
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“I said I couldn’t keep it there because we are building a $5 million park for Jersey City residents, but I will make sure the new location is respected and dignified.” – Mayor Steven Fulop.
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Protest at city hall
The confrontation at the monument came after an even more contentious press conference on May 14 at which Fulop and some Polish officials announced a compromise on the statue’s relocation.
Protestors said they wanted the statue to remain where it is currently located.
Yelling “Shame, shame, shame” the protestors drowned portions of statements by Fulop, Poland’s Concul General Jaciej Golubiewski and others, who were trying to explain the details of a compromise agreement that would move the statue to a new location a block away on York Street.
For a short time, former state Sen. Ray Lesniak was among the Polish crowd, but left City Hall when the protest erupted.
The protestors led by Slawek Platta, an attorney and candidate for New York Senate, said moving the statue would be an insult to the memory of the victims of the 1940 massacre.
The city originally proposed moving the statue from Exchange Place to 74 Montgomery St., which the City Council designated for its location in the 1986.
The agreement to move the statue to York Street came as a result of discussion with the Polish Chamber of Commerce, Fulop said.
The York Street location, Fulop pointed out, would still be on the waterfront, and have similar views of New York City’s Freedom Tower. Fulop said instead of putting the statue temporarily in storage until the new location can be prepared, a new park on York Street would be constructed simultaneously to the Exchange Place renovation, and would allow the city to move the statue directly from one location to the other.
Fulop said moving the statue and building the park for it on York Street would cost about $250,000. He said the city will cover some of the costs, but the rest of the funding will be raised through the efforts of the Polish Chamber of Commerce in the U.S.
Drowning them out!
The controversy started in April when local officials and members of the Polish Community learned that the statue was to be relocated as part of a Special Improvement District project to redevelop the waterfront area. But the Polish community was never consulted.
Protestors at the press conference were not happy with the compromise and chanted “Blah, Blah, Blah,” to drown out even Polish officials, who they claim sold out to the developer – Mack Cali – which is spearheading the renovation of the waterfront area.
Backed by public officials such as Councilman Richard Boggiano, the protestors demanded that the statue remain in his current location.
Platta said the monument contains remains and ashes of some of those who died in the massacre.
“Those souls of people buried there are a curse to the mayor for his actions,” Platta said.
Fulop said this would not be an issue because the city had already moved the remains when it moved the monument to its current location in 1991.
Protestors also claimed the York Street site put the monument near sewer lines and other utilities.
Representatives from the Exchange Place SID called the monument “too gruesome” to fit in with the planned changes at the current location. The site would include a playground area for young kids.
Protestors, however, said the site accommodates numerous festivals and public cultural events that incorporate kids, such as the recent Holi festival.
Under the agreement with the city, the Polish consul would be given the property for the new site for free under a 99-year lease.
“Our intentions were never to be disrespectful to the Polish community,” Fulop said, noting that most people who travel in the area do not know what the statue represents. But a park dedicated to the statue might help inform them.
Platta, carrying a protest sign, tried to get close to the podium where officials spoke, and was ordered back by a Fulop bodyguard and then by police.
Later, when the press conference ended, protestors attempted to take the podium in order to have their side told to the massive media presence. A city official order the microphone shut off. Boggiano ordered them turned back on.
The City Council is expected to vote on the plan at its May 23 meeting, and several council members are opposed to it.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.
