Polish Cemetery, as seen from Monte Cassino monastery |
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Location of Polish cemetery at Monte Cassino
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| Details | |
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| Year established | 1944 |
| Country | Italy |
| Location | Monte Cassino |
| Type | Polish soldiers |
| Number of graves | 1,000 |
The Polish cemetery at Monte Cassino holds the graves of over a thousand Poles who died, storming the bombed-out Benedictine abbey atop the mountain in May 1944, during the Battle of Monte Cassino.
The religious affiliations of the deceased are indicated by three types of headstone: the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox headstones feature different forms of the Christian cross, and the Jewish headstones bear the Star of David.
The cemetery also holds the grave of General Władysław Anders, who had commanded the Polish forces that captured Monte Cassino. Anders died in London in 1970.
The Polish memorial at Monte Cassino bears the following two inscriptions
The first, based on the Epitaph of Simonides, reads:
The other translates from Polish:
An anthem, The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino — composed on the eve of the Polish storming of the German stronghold — memorializes the Polish soldiers who gave their lives. The refrain is familiar to all Poles: