Forgotten Ordon Redoubt – 1931 ?!

There are such places, probably everywhere and always, forgotten by the present and by many people.

When you enter Aleje Jerozolimskie into the center of the Polish capital Warsaw, just before the West Railway Station, now, just in the first years of the 21st century, the world of colorful buildings and neon lights blinds you, on the right the dome of the “Blue City” shopping center, on the left another equally huge “Reduta” shopping center: but where did this “redoubt” come from?, protection against customers?, against whom, what?; it is a pity that at the entrance/exit to/from the “Reduta Shopping Center” there is no information, e.g. a board explaining the source of the name, and where to find it, it is about … “Ordona Redoubt”!

“From now on, Ordon will become the patron of ramparts, because he has done the work of destruction in defense of freedom, because the work of destruction for a good cause is sacred, like the work of creation.”

These are the greatest symbols of Poland’s fight for independence, the history of the November Uprising of 1830. “The commander of the Warsaw, Wola outpost, unable to effectively oppose the numerical superiority of the enemy, at the last moment – when the enemy had already broken into the redoubt – blew himself up causing great losses to the enemy.”

Do you remember from school, learned by heart, the first lines of “Ordon’s Redoubt” by our greatest national poet Adam Mickiewicz?:

We were not ordered to shoot. “I stepped on the cannon

And I looked at the field; two hundred cannons thundered.

The ranks of the Russian artillery are stretching,

Straight, long, far away as the shores of the sea;

And I saw their leader: he came running, beckoning with his sword

And like a bird he folded one wing of his army;

Squeezed infantry pours out from under the wing

A long black column, like mud lava,

Sprinkled with bayonet sparks. Like vultures

Black banners lead the hosts to death.

next… :

http://monika.univ.gda.pl/~literat/amwiersz/0060.htm

Thousands of customers leave the shopping center every day right next to the intersection, where a forgotten monument of national memory stands proudly hidden in the bushes.

Passerby, customer, stop for a moment of reflection on our common past – “because it gives rise to the present, the future and the explanation of everything.”

There is also a “small” issue with the inscription on one of our most important national monuments in Warsaw – our beloved “Pan Rzemieślnik” probably made the inscription on the stone too quickly and easily, and you can see the year … 1931 (SIC!), it begs to sneak under this such an important national monument in the evening and dock these few centimeters by clearly making 9 – 8! But isn’t that punishable? It is also extremely interesting where the officials accepting this job were, not to mention the official delegations laying flowers on the occasion of ribbon cutting and various national anniversaries (or maybe such celebrations never took place?).

Now, someone tell me how many of the thousands of customers with children visiting the Reduta shopping center and employees of the surrounding offices and offices will be convinced that this monument is dedicated to our national struggles of the year… 1931.

I cordially greet all lovers of discovering forgotten national monuments and reminding of our common priceless values ​​and the National GA.PA online gallery.

Tadeusz Wysocki, Warsaw – district Wlochy, Dziupli street, with long bicycle trips around the area, this time just in the northern direction

PS I dedicate this submission to the Narodowa GA.PA gallery to Adrian Markowski (journalist, writer, poet) who pointed out to me this sign of forgotten national memory and history. Thank you Adriana, also from Italy near Warsaw! 🙂