Garden of the Righteous in Warsaw, Memorial park in Wola district, Warsaw, Poland.
The Garden of the Righteous in Warsaw is a memorial park in the Wola district that commemorates people who helped others survive persecution and oppression through inscribed stones and planted trees. Located between Dzielna and Pawia streets near John Paul II Avenue, the grounds offer a defined space dedicated to these stories.
The Garden of the Righteous in Warsaw was inaugurated on 5 June 2014, the day after the 25th anniversary of the 4 June 1989 semi-free elections that led to the fall of communism. The idea came from the History Meeting House and the Italian GARIWO foundation, modelled on Milan's Garden of the Righteous. It occupies the site of the former "Serbia" women's prison on Jerzy Jur-Gorzechowski square.
The title "Righteous" comes from Yad Vashem's designation for non-Jews who aided Jews during World War II, but the Warsaw garden applies it more broadly to people of the 20th and 21st centuries who defended human dignity under totalitarianism or genocide. Each year on the European Day of the Righteous, established by the European Parliament in 2012, the Garden Committee announces new names; honorees receive a memorial tree and a symbolic stone. Only deceased candidates are considered, and anyone may submit a nomination by 30 November.
The grounds are accessible on foot and situated conveniently between two main streets in the city center. Plan time to walk through and read the individual memorial stones, as the space encourages pausing and reflection.
The site once held the "Serbia" women's prison, and the garden now stands on Jerzy Jur-Gorzechowski square. Its design came from Barbara Kraus-Galińska's landscape studio "Abies". Honoured individuals receive a memorial tree and a symbolic stone rather than a statue.
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