On September 4, 1983, Katowice unveiled the Monument to the Scouts of September to honour the brave Silesian scouts who resisted Nazi forces entering the city in 1939. This powerful memorial commemorates the scouts who perished not only in these initial confrontations but throughout the German occupation, embodying their sacrifice for Polish freedom and resilience.
Honouring the Fallen Scouts: A Legacy of Courage and Resistance in Silesia
Among the first scouts to fall was Ryszard Kot from Michałkowice, whose bravery is immortalized in the monument’s design. Many scouts fought alongside resistance forces in Silesia, a defiance met with severe repression. In one tragic event, German soldiers executed 80 people, including scouts, in Katowice’s main square. These young lives are memorialized here, a testament to their courage and tragic loss.
The recognition of these scouts faced significant resistance after the war. Post-war authorities, keen to control narratives of heroism, sought to downplay their contributions. Despite attempts to erase this legacy, families and scout leaders, notably Jerzy Kret and writer Kazimierz Gołba, championed efforts to preserve the scouts’ memory, eventually succeeding in modest commemorative gestures amid strong opposition.
A Monument Realized: Katowice Honors Its Fallen Scouts After Decades of Determined Effort
After decades of failed attempts to secure a permanent monument, the persistence of the community finally paid off in 1979, when a new design by Zygmunt Brachmański and architect Michał Kuczmiński was selected. Public support for the project surged, with funds and materials collected, allowing construction to proceed. The official unveiling in 1983 drew large crowds, including local leaders and families of the fallen, in a solemn tribute to the scouts’ legacy.
Now a central landmark in Katowice, the monument depicts four scouts in bronze, emerging as symbols of resilience, and bears the inscription, “Everything we have, we give to Poland.” Moved slightly in 2015 during renovations, it stands near the former Silesian Museum, its message enduring as a reminder of the scouts’ bravery and the city’s wartime history.