Cedynia-Siekierki-Gozdowice National Remembrance Area

The Cedynia-Siekierki-Gozdowice National Remembrance Area is a stretch of the Oder in Cedynia and Mieszkowice municipalities, linked to the crossing of the Oder by the 1st Polish Army in April 1945. Steles and monuments in Stare Łysogórki, Siekierki, Gozdowice and Czelin mark the National Remembrance Trail, and the main burial site is the war cemetery in Siekierki.

The Oder crossing of April 1945

The crossing of the Oder near Siekierki and Gozdowice lasted from 16 to 20 April 1945 and began at about four in the morning with artillery fire. The 1st Infantry Division crossed first. According to the portal dzieje.pl, about 2 thousand Polish soldiers died in three days of fighting. The entry on Stare Łysogórki gives the figure of 1894 dead in the area of Czelin, Gozdowice and Siekierki, so the estimates differ.

Siekierki war cemetery

The cemetery lies about two kilometres south of the village of Siekierki. According to dzieje.pl, 1987 soldiers are buried there, 1661 of them identified by name; the entry on Siekierki gives 1975 burials. The concrete crosses echo the shape of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald. At the centre stands a granite monument designed by Sławomir Lewiński: a tall obelisk with two Grunwald swords, sails in the background symbolising the crossing, and a female figure. Next to the cemetery is a small museum devoted to the fighting on the Oder.

Stare Łysogórki and Gozdowice

In Stare Łysogórki stands the Museum of Memorabilia of the 1st Polish Army, opened in 1965 in a building next to the war cemetery. In 1945 it housed an exhumation office, recreated today in the basement. An IS-2 tank stands in front of the building as a monument. In Gozdowice, where sappers built a pontoon bridge in April 1945, stands the Sapper Monument, unveiled in 1952 and given its present form in 1972. The Museum of the Engineer Troops of the 1st Polish Army, established on 16 April 1965, is also there.

Practical information

• The National Remembrance Trail runs through Cedynia, Czcibor Hill, Siekierki, Gozdowice, Czelin and Osinów Dolny.
• According to the entry, the museum in Stare Łysogórki is open from Tuesday to Sunday from March to October, and from Wednesday to Sunday from November to February. Current visiting rules are given by the museum.
• These places are cemeteries and memorials to the fallen, so quiet and respect are expected.