Pawiak Elm monumenent, Bronze monument at Museum of Pawiak Prison, Warsaw, Poland.
The Pawiak Elm monument is a bronze cast of an original elm tree that stood outside the prison, with every detail of its trunk and branches preserved in metal. The sculpture stands in front of the Museum of Pawiak Prison, capturing the exact form of the tree that grew there.
The original tree grew outside the Pawiak Prison wall and served as a memorial site from 1945 onward, where families left flowers for those who died in captivity. When the tree was cut down in 1984, the bronze casting preserved its memory for future generations.
The bronze elm became a place where people left flowers and candles for decades, making it a living memorial created by the community itself. This practice of public remembrance turned an ordinary tree into a symbol of shared grief and solidarity.
The monument sits directly in front of the museum entrance and is easily accessible from all sides. Visitors can walk around it freely and examine the bronze details from different angles at any time.
The bronze sculpture preserves not only the tree's shape but also messages, photographs, and memorial plaques that visitors attached over the decades. These personal marks were captured in the casting process and remain visible as part of the artwork today.
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