Monument of Shared Memory

The Monument of Shared Memory stands in Grabiszyński Park in Wrocław, on the site of a former, now disused cemetery.

Who it is dedicated to

The monument is dedicated to the memory of Wrocław residents whose graves were liquidated after 1945. It stands exactly where Wrocław's crematorium once stood, on the site of the former Grabiszyński Cemetery III, now transformed into a park.

History of its creation

The idea of commemorating Wrocław residents buried before 1945 in liquidated cemeteries emerged in the 1990s, after more than two hundred former German gravestones from destroyed Wrocław cemeteries were found in Mirków in 1989. The city bought up the surviving gravestones. The monument's design, by Tomasz Tomaszewski, Alojzy Gryt and Czesław Wesołowski, was chosen in 2005, and the monument itself was completed on 30 October 2008.

Form of the monument

The monument is made of granite and takes the form of a wall made up of 32 fragments with uneven ends, with a total length of 60 metres. Several surviving former German gravestones are set into it. Four parts of the monument correspond to particular categories of former Wrocław cemeteries: Catholic, Evangelical, municipal and Jewish. In the centre there is a horizontal slab listing all the cemeteries liquidated in Wrocław after 1945. An avenue lined with hedges leads to the monument from Grabiszyńska street, beginning with a granite gate bearing the Latin name Monumentum Memoriae Communis.

Practical information

• Location: Grabiszyński Park, Grabiszyn-Grabiszynek estate, Wrocław
• Getting there: the avenue leading to the monument begins on the Grabiszyńska street side
• The monument stands within the park, freely accessible