In autumn respective 100 oaks will be planted in the village of Kolumna close Łódź, which will form the Forest of Memory, in which the monument will stand. In this symbolic way, the Veteran Centre and State Forests want to pay tribute to soldiers who have given their lives on missions outside the country.
Monument in the Memorial Park of Victims of the Pomeranian Crimes 1939 in Toruń.
The Centre for Veteran Activities outside the State Borders concluded a cooperation agreement with the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Łódź. Under the document, the directors of both institutions signed: Colonel Dr. Katarzyna Rodziewska and Jacek Chudy. Joint projects were announced, including commemoration of soldiers killed during abroad missions.
– Today's agreement is not only an expression of common concern for historical memory, but besides concrete actions that will preserve this memory," said Colonel Dr. Katarzyna Rałędowska, manager of the Veteran Centre for Activities outside the State Borders. – We plan to plant the Forest of Memory together with the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Łódź. It will be a symbolic tribute to soldiers who gave their lives on missions outside the country," she added.
Jacek Chudy, manager of the RDLP in Łódź, considered the signing of the agreement a “important step towards building lasting ties between the foresters' environment and the military environment”. He recalled that the State Forests have been playing an crucial function in the country's defence strategy for years: they supply military training facilities, undertake educational activities and support uniformed services. “We are pleased that, thanks to cooperation with the Veteran Centre, we will be able to support veterans and their families even more effectively and work together for defence, patriotism and historical memory,” added manager Jacek Chudy.
State Forests and Veteran Centre will jointly organize educational, sports and cultural events for veterans and local communities, as well as joint ecological and pro-social projects. The agreement besides provides for actions related to the commemoration of soldiers who died during abroad missions and the promotion of the function of State Forests in the field of environmental and defence safety of the country.
At the end of October, an oak planting action will be organised in the Pod Łódź Kolumna Forest, dedicated to soldiers who have fallen on missions outside the country. The oaks we plant are long-lasting trees. They will come from a forest nursery, and autumn is simply a good time for their planting," says Hanna Bednarek-Kolasińska, the spokesperson for the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Łódź. He explains that respective 100 trees will be fenced so that the cuttings do not bite the forest animals.
In the Memorial Forest there will besides be a stone monument dedicated to soldiers who did not return from the mission. Next to it will be a plaque with 124 names of deceased and informing about the initiative of the Veteran Centre. I spoke to those soldiers' families. They said they were happy to have specified a natural and permanent monument. due to the fact that erstwhile we're gone, there'll inactive be a forest...’, says Rodziwska.
