#stanislaw maczek

[mynawyspie]

Vandals deface image of Poland’s Black Madonna in Dutch city…

The monument is a tribute to Polish liberators who freed the city of Breda from the Nazis in 1944. The Black Madonna also honors Gen. Stanisław Maczek, commander of the 10th Motorized Calvary which rolled into Breda in 1944. However, because he had witnessed the devastation that WWII had left behind in Europe, he chose not to use full tank firepower in Breda. So instead, he and his troops fought house-to-house. As a result, very few residents of Breda perished, and thus the people honored Maczek by making him an honorary citizen.

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Gen. Stanisław Maczek: The Polish soldier fights for the freedom of all nations, but he dies only for Poland.

[stillunusual]

The memorial that commemorates General Stanisław Maczek, in front of Edinburgh City Chambers on High Street General Stanisław Maczek is best known for being the commander of the First Polish Armoured Division who fought for the liberation of Western Europe between 1944-1945. Despite being a war hero, he was stripped of Polish citizenship by the communist government after the Second World War, and settled in Edinburgh with his family, where they lived at 16 Arden Street from 1948 until the general's death in 1994. Maczek was also refused a military pension and denied combatant rights by the British government. He worked as a barman in an Edinburgh hotel for many years to make a living (the Dutch government decided to pay him a secret yearly allowance after hearing about his plight). In addition to this memorial, a path through Edinburgh's meadows has been named after General Maczek and there is a plaque on the wall of 16 Arden Street commemorating the fact that he lived there....