(Ha'aretz) Roman Frister - A military band played Hatikva Thursday as the Polish capital unveiled a memorial to underground fighters who fled the Warsaw Ghetto shortly before its liquidation in spring 1943. The memorial is at the exact location where 40 men and one woman were spared certain death at the hands of the Nazis by escaping from the sewage canals beneath the ghetto. Simcha Rotem, a Jerusalemite and former underground fighter, told the audience of fleeing the ghetto 10 days before its liquidation and making contact with municipal sewage workers to arrange the evacuation. The monument is the brainchild of Maciej Kozlowski, a former ambassador to Israel. The monument is shaped like a sewage pipe with a ladder at its end, from which hands are seen clinging desperately. Next to it is a sculpture shaped as a Star of David, and the names of all of those involved in the escape operation, both rescuers and survivors.
2010-05-14 08:46:21Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive