Photographs capturing the story and symbolism of the Katyn Memorial

I’ve been photographing the Katyn Memorial on the Jersey City waterfront for many years now. The statue of a Polish soldier facing the sky, as in a prayer, his hands tied behind his back, mouth gagged and his body impaled by a bayonet, has always captivated me. I felt compelled to look and take in every single detail of the artwork, itself, as well as of the story that it tells–that of the Katyn massacre that happened at this time in history, in 1940.

This past weekend I was reminded of this particular anniversary as I walked by the waterfront and noticed people gathering, remembering, and placing flowers all around the memorial. It also reminded me of the flowers placed at the memorial many years ago in the wake of a plane crash that killed the entire Polish administration on its way to a Katyn commemoration. Some of those images were featured on (then) CNN iReport.

Here are a few more images of the Katyn memorial:

Never forget!

As always, thanks for stopping by,

Alina Oswald