Palmiry Things to Do

I hope that by the time you get to visit the Cemetery in Palmiry there will be no signs of vandalism that we could see, particularly revolting and poignant in this place of martyrdom. But when we were there, many of the nameplates were missing from the crosses and headstones not because the people buried there could not be identified. The brass nameplates had been ripped off to be sold for scrap by vandals. Not a single one had been left, but at the time of our visit many had already been replaced by plastic ones, of no commercial value. It is really sad to think that anybody could desecrate the victims' graves for their own profit. And there must have been someone too who had bought the nameplates from them. I hope the police still find the culprits - such an abominable act should not go by unpunished. Let the people rest in peace.

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The executions carried out by the Nazis in the Palmiry forest in the years 1939 -1941 were the Nazis' top secret. The victims were brought here from Pawiak and other Warsaw prisons and shot on the spot. They fell straight into specially prepared ditches, which were later disguised with newly-planted trees. However, Polish foresters, who witnessed the executions, managed to mark the sites and thus over 1700 bodies were exhumed after the war and buried in individual graves in this enormous cemetery-mausoleum. 786 more exhumed bodies were brought to be buried here from other sites of executions near Warsaw. Many have never been identified, so some of the crosses bear the inscription NN meaning an unknown person.
You can visit the museum of the cemetery open daily except Mondays, from 9 to 14.30 (15.00 on Tuesdays). Guides to the museum and the cemetery available by prior arrangement.