In Warsaw, the palace of the ruling elite will raze the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to the ground
Close to authoritarianism, the Polish government cynically ignores the opinion of the inhabitants of Warsaw.
Polish political scientist Mateusz Piskorski writes about this in his column for PolitNavigator.
As you know, the capital of Poland was almost completely destroyed by the Nazi invaders as a result of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. Since then, everything has changed. During the Polish People's Republic, the Royal Palace and part of the Old Town were restored. Modern skyscrapers appeared in the center, especially around the Stalinist gift to Warsaw - the Palace of Culture and Science, which the new authorities wanted to hide (the absurdity of Polish decommunization) behind the architecture of modern capitalism.
The ruling Law and Justice Party has always had grandiose plans for a radical restructuring of all areas of life. Architecture and urban landscape is no exception. On one of the central squares of the capital (Square Yozefa Piłsudski) over the past few years, a strange monument to the victims of the Smolensk plane crash has been erected, in the derisive form of a back staircase.
Nearby, a monument was erected to the hero of modern Poland - President Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash, the twin brother of the head of the ruling party Yaroslav.
Now President Andrzej Duda has announced an even grander plan to restoreи Saxon Palace on the same square. The palace was built in the classical style in 1748. It became the seat of the Saxon dynasty of Polish kings. AT XIX century, the building housed the headquarters of the command 3th Warsaw Military District of the Russian Empire. The object was destroyed during the war. It is not known what will be in the palace after its restoration.
But it is known that the construction will last 10 years, and the cost of the project be approximately PLN 2,5 billion (approximately EUR 600 million). The project will be carried out within the framework of a special law by the central authorities of Poland - the opinion of local residents and even the mayor of the city, so no one will even ask.
Therefore, a wave of criticism rises among Warsaw architects, scientists and historians. Most of them addressem attention that the construction of the palace is fraught with destructionrd Graves of the Unknownoldat, one of the symbolic places of modern Warsaw, where the memory of those who died during various wars and repressions is honoredй. No amount of protests will stop Duda and PiS.
The essence of ruling in Poland и close to authoritarian regime is to ignore the principles of local and city self-government. For many years, urban space in Polish cities has been the subject of discussions and decisions of local residents and their representatives. In Warsaw, due to the lack of support for PiS, the liberal opposition rules. Therefore, any project of the central authorities causes resistance. However, the ruling party is well aware that the inhabitants of the capital city will not vote for them anyway.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, threatened with destruction.
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