''Avenger'' ( Polish: ''Mściciel'') is a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

sculpture dedicated to the victims of the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

, located in Doylestown,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. It is placed at the Polish military cemetery near the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa. It was designed by Andrzej Pityński, and unveiled on August 14, 1988. The sculpture has the height of 32.8 ft (10 m), and includes a bronze statue of a Polish hussar, a heavy-cavalry soldier in armour decorated with wings on his back, kneeling on one leg and supporting himself with a sword stuck into the ground, placed on a

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

pedestal.

History

The monument was designed by Andrzej Pityński, and unveiled on August 14, 1988. It became a location to various celebrations organised by the Polish Army Veterans' Association in America. On April 18, 2010, diplomatic representatives of Poland laid flowers under the monument, in memory of 96 casualties of the crash of Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft in

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

, Russia, including President of Poland,

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010 in an air crash. The aircraft carrying ...

, First Lady Maria Kaczyńska, and other high-ranking government officials. The plane was en route to commemorations of the Katyn massacre anniversary. On April 10, 2011, one year since the disaster, and the monument pedetal was installed a plaque in memory of the event. The ceremony was attended by around 800 people, including Robert Kupiecki, the ambassador of Poland to the United States, and Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, the consul general of Poland in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. On August 15, 2021, Andrzej Pityński was commemorated in his hometown of Ulanów, Poland, with an unveiling a mural, depicting the sculpture ''Avenger''. It was painted by Michał Czerko and Michał Mach.

Characteristics

The sculpture has the height of 32.8 ft (10 m), and includes a bronze statue of a Polish hussar, a heavy-cavalry soldier in armour decorated with wings on his back, kneeling on one leg and supporting himself with a sword stuck into the ground. It is placed on a

pedestal.Stanisław Jankowski, Edward Miszczak: ''Powrót do Katynia''. Warsaw: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, 1990, p. 219. ISBN 83-03-03194-5. (in Polish) Some critics compared it to the motive of a lone warrior, sometimes present among immigrant communities in the United States.Donald M. Reynolds: ''Masters of American Sculpture: The Figurative Tradition from the American Renaissance to the Millenium''. New York City, Abeville Press, 1993, p. 167. ISBN 1-55859-276-8. The pedestal is decorated with two plaques. First, dating to 1988, has large text which reads "KATYŃ 1940". It also bears an inspiration with a quote from the 1952 report of the United States House Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation of the Facts, Evidence, and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre, which investigated the

between 1951 and 1952. It reads: The second plaque, added in 2011, has text which reads "SMOLEŃSK 2010", and is dedicated to the 96 victims of the crash of Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft in

, Russia, including President of Poland,

, First Lady Maria Kaczyńska, and other high-ranking government officials. It bears an inspiration in Polish, which reads:

References

{{Authority control 1988 establishments in Pennsylvania 1988 sculptures Buildings and structures completed in 1988 Monuments and memorials in Pennsylvania Outdoor sculptures in Pennsylvania Statues of men Sculptures of men in Pennsylvania Bronze sculptures in Pennsylvania Smolensk air disaster Statues of military officers Katyn massacre memorials Polish-American culture in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Granite sculptures in Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Colossal statues in the United States