Zasław (memorial)
Historical background / inscriptions
At the foot of the hill, adjacent to the labour camp in Zasław, which is also a place of tragic death for many people, there is an information board, which is in a sense a commemoration itself (visitors put flowers and candles next to it on the ceremonies related to various anniversaries or memorial days).
In Polish:
TABLICA PAMIĘCI POMORDOWANYM
1940 – 1949
ZIEMIA TEJ GÓRY JEST PRZESIĄKNIĘTA KRWIĄ
I ZAWIERA PROCHY TYSIĘCY MIESZKAŃCÓW
NASZEGO KRAJU: ŻYDÓW, ROMÓW I POLAKÓW
POMORDOWANYCH W LATACH 1940 – 1949,
OFIAR NAZISTOWSKICH ZBRODNIARZY W OKRESIE
HITLEROWSKIEJ OKUPACJI. JEST GROBEM I
POMNIKIEM NARODOWYM. W ROKU 1941 UTWORZONO
W ZAKŁADZIE NA TERENIE FABRYKI GETTO DLA
ŻYDÓW I CYGANÓW Z MIAST I OKOLIC SANOKA,
RYMANOWA, BRZOZOWA, KROSNA, JASŁA, USTRZYK,
CHYROWA I SŁOWACJI W CELU MARTYROLOGII
I EKSTERMINACJI. ROZSTRZELIWANIA ŻYDÓW BYŁY
PLANOWANE, SYSTEMATYCZNE I ODBYWAŁY SIĘ
U PODNÓŻA TEJ GÓRY ORAZ NA GÓRZE OBOK
CMENTARZA, GDZIE BYLI GRZEBANI.
OSTATECZNA LIKWIDACJA GETTA NASTĄPIŁA
W 1943 ROKU, ZGINĘŁO TU OKOŁO
17 TYSIĘCY LUDZI. W PRZEWAŻAJĄCEJ
WIĘKSZOŚCI ŻYDÓW. W ROKU 1943 OKUPANT
HITLEROWSKI W CELU ZATARCIA ZBRODNI
LUDOBÓJSTWA, PRZED OPUSZCZENIEM KRAJU
DOKONAŁ EKSHUMACJI KREMACJI ZWŁOK
W KREMATORIUM PRZEWOŹNYM.
TABLICE TĄ POSTAWIONO W 50-LECIE
LIKWIDACJI GETTA DLA UTRWALENIA PAMIĘCI
I PRZESTROGI PRZYSZŁYCH POKOLEŃ.
ODDAJMY CZEŚĆ ZMARŁYM TRAGICZNIE I USZANUJMY
MIEJSCE UŚWIĘCONE KRWIĄ POMORDOWANYCH.
Translation:
A PLAQUE IN MEMORY OF THE MURDERED
1940 – 1949
THIS MOUNTAIN’S SOILD IS SOAKED WITH BLOOD
AND CONTAINS ASHES OF THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS
OF OUR COUNTRY: JEWS, THE ROMA AND POLES
MURDERED IN THE YEARS 1940 – 1949,
THEY WERE VICTIMS OF NAZIST CRIMES DURING
GERMAN OCCUPATION. IT IS A TOMB AND
A NATIONAL MEMORIAL. IN 1941, A GHETTO WAS ESTABLISHED
FOR JEWS AND GYPSIES FROM CITY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SANOK,
RYMANOWA, BRZOZÓW, KROSNO, JASŁA, USTRZYKI,
CHYRÓW AND SLOVAK IN THE FACTORY AREA
FOR MARTYROLOGY AND EXTERMINATION.
THE SHOOTINGS OF JEWS WERE
PLANNED, SYSTEMATIC AND HAPPENED
AT THE FOOT OF THIS MOUNTAIN AND ON THE MOUNTAIN NEAR
THE CEMETERY WHERE THE VICTIMS WERE THEN BURIED.
THE ULTIMATE LIQUIDATION OF THE GHETTO TOOK PLACE
IN 194. 17 THOUSAND PEOPLE. DIED HERE, MOST OF THEM JEWS.
IN 1943, THE NAZI OCCUPYING FORCES, IN ORDER TO ERASE TRACES OF
GENOCIDE, EXHUMED ADN BURNED THE BODIES
OF THE MURDERED VICTIMS IN A MOBILE CREMATORIUM
BEFORE LEAVING THE COUNTRY.
THESE PLAQUES WERE PLACED ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE LIQUIDATION OF THE GHETTO TO PRESERVE THE MEMORY
AND AS A REMINDER FOR FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.
LET US HONOUR THOSE WHO WERE TRAGICALLY MURDERED
AND PAY RESPECT TO THEM IN THIS PLACE
WHICH WAS SANCTIFIED BY THE BLOOD OF THE MURDERED.
Description of commemoration
On top of the hill (you can reach it by following the road towards the cemetery) there is a car park with information boards. From the car park, freshly renovated stairs lead to the central square with the memorial, which was unveiled in 1963. Previously there were pits where bodies of hundreds of murdered Jews, Poles, Lemkos (Ruthenians) and Gypsies were buried.
The surface of this huge grave is levelled, and a wide paved path leads to the memorial. The monument itself has the form of a stone wall on the top of which there are figures of two people, presumably prisoners. Those figures are quite symbolic, with the contours barely marked, as they are formed of thick, steel, bent bars. They seem to be escaping through the wall.
On the memorial, there is a plaque cast from metal alloy, on which there is no detailed information about the Gypsy victims.
The founder of the monument is the Sanok branch of the ZBoWiD (Association of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy).
Inscriptions
The monument:
In Polish:
– W HOŁDZIE – / POMORDOWANYM W LATACH OKUPACJI / OFIAROM HITLEROWSKIEGO BARBARZYŃSTWA / OBELISK TEN W MIEJSCU KAŹNI / ZBUDOWAŁO KOŁO / ZBoWiD PRZY SFA W SANOKU // GRUDZIEŃ 1963
Translation:
– IN HONOUR / OF THE MURDERED IN THE YEARS OF OCCUPATION / VICTIMS OF NAZI BARBARISM / THIS OBELISK AT THE EXTERMINATION SITE / WAS ERECTED BY / ZBoWiD AT SFA [SANOK BUS FACTORY] IN SANOK // DECEMBER 1963
Date of the unveiling
1963
Author
Initiator
Związek Bojowników o Wolność i Demokrację (ZBoWiD) [Association of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy] at Sanocka Fabryka Autobusów (SFA – Autosan – Sanok Bus Factory)
Address
- Fabryczna [Fabryczna Street], Zasław
Location
Zasław – memorial
49°31’10.4″N 22°16’38.8″E
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