Ever wonder about those unassuming markers dotting Warsaw? They are not just any plaques. This is about the Fabryka Kemlera Plaque. These plaques are Tchorek plaques. They are common in Warsaw. They quietly narrate tales of wartime struggle and martyrdom.
Karol Tchorek designed them in 1949. The plaques mark sites of battles and executions during the German occupation. Warsaw was devastated during World War II. After the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, Germans expelled the population. Returning residents spontaneously commemorated places of conflict with makeshift memorials.
The nascent People’s Republic of Poland sought to formalize these tributes. The Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites managed this task. In the late 1940s, they chose uniform memorial plaques. These original plaques featured black metal with white crosses. Brief descriptions noted events at each location.
A nationwide competition in 1948 aimed to create a formal memorial plaque design. Karol Tchorek won first prize in 1949. His design included an array-relief forged in grey sandstone. A Maltese cross stood in the middle.
From the 1950s, “Tchorek plaques” marked martyrdom sites in Warsaw and nearby towns. Tchorek’s design was used until the end of the communist era. Ella Chmielewska noted the plaques became part of the cityscape. People saw them as urban information rather than art.
In 1962, a citizens committee entrusted youth with caring for the plaques. Schools, institutions and associations became patrons. Tchorek intended the central inscription to read: “This place is sanctified by the blood of martyrdom of Poles fighting for freedom.” It was changed to: “This place is sanctified by the blood of Poles fighting for the freedom of their homeland.”
Texts describing commemorated events were repeatedly modified without Tchorek’s consent. This led to conflicts with communist bureaucracy. In 1968, he won a dispute over lettering copyright for 51 plaques and 35 monoliths.
Political pressure heavily influenced the text. Most plaques commemorate German atrocities during the Warsaw Uprising. The communist authorities found the Uprising controversial. It was organized by the Polish resistance, who fought for Poland’s independence. The Home Army was suppressed by the Stalinist regime. The Uprising’s significance was downplayed for years. The Home Army and wartime Polish government were condemned by communist propaganda. Official memorialization was impossible for decades.
Inscriptions on Tchorek plaques had to comply with censorship. Direct references to the Warsaw Uprising or Home Army were avoided. Indirect references sometimes appeared. For example, the text might mention “insurgents” or an “insurgent hospital.” Another convention was referring to Germans as “Hitlerowcy” which means Hitlerites.
The exact number of Tchorek plaques created is unknown. Approximately 200 existed at the end of 1983. Stanislaw Cieplowski estimated about 180 in 1987. Tchorek plaques are made of sandstone. They are displayed on walls or as free-standing monoliths. Some plaques were added to preserved building fragments. A metal sign often indicates the memorial’s patron.
The central motif is the Maltese Cross. The shield usually says: “MIEJSCE UŚWIĘCONE KRWIĄ POLAKÓW POLEGŁYCH ZA WOLNOŚĆ OJCZYZNY”. This translates to: “a place sanctified by the blood of Poles fallen for the freedom of the fatherland.” Short inscriptions provide basic event information. Grammatical and spelling errors sometimes appear. Factual errors also occur like incorrect dates or victim numbers. Some plaques commemorate events without historical source confirmation. In 2009, Warsaw inventoried the plaques but did not correct errors.
A different plaque form commemorated Holocaust victims. It lacked the Maltese cross and had a shorter inscription: “CZEŚĆ ICH PAMIĘCI” which means “honour to their memory”. Some Tchorek plaques are in poor condition now. Since the end of communist rule, new memorials have been created. These often supersede the original Tchorek plaques. The Fabryka Kemlera Plaque stands as a testament. It represents a city’s complex history and enduring spirit.