I took this photo last March on Boston’s Seaport District. I knew nothing of the monument or it’s significance at the time. I recently found it while cleaning out my photo gallery and felt compelled to post about it. After doing a bit of research, I have found that this sculpture has a history of it’s own, apart from the events it was meant to depict.

Titled “The Partisans”, it was created by sculptor Andrzej Pityinski in 1979. The accompanying plaque states that it “depicts Polish underground fighters who battled the German and Soviet forces during World War II and later the Communist regime of Poland.”

Originally the sculpture was to have residence in Warsaw, but due to the political climate of then communist Poland, it was not to be. Its landing in Boston was also met with some controversy. The original location in City Hall Plaza was scrapped in 1983 and then a location in Boston Common was decided upon. “The Partisans” found a home there until 2006 when under pressure from residents of the more affluent Beacon Hill neighborhood, Mayor Menino decided to have the sculpture removed from the Common. Its status remained in limbo as the sculpture sat in a storage facility in Southie.

In March of ‘06 the MBTA, Boston’s transit authority, stepped up and provided a great location for the sculpture to be seen and appreciated yet again.

I’m very glad I stumbled across it.

“A monument is an expressive symbol. A good one, looked at for even a few minutes, will remain in memory for years or even for one’s lifetime. Monuments are the milestones in a nation’s history — they will not allow other systems and governments to destroy the core values of a national culture.” -Andrzej Pityinski