To reveal, to commemorate, to understand – to forget? The narratives concerning Soviet bombardment of Grodzisk Mazowiecki in January 1945

On January 16, 1945 Grodzisk Mazowiecki, a town 30 kilometers from Warsaw, was bombed by Soviet aircrafts. The Red Army was then approaching Warsaw and the German forces had already fled westward. In Grodzisk there were no German troops. Soviet aircrafts bombed the market crowded with people from Grodzisk, refugees from Warsaw and peasants from nearby villages. The number of casualties was estimated at about 300, but is hard to assess, because all the documents concerning the event, including medical documentation from hospitals, has later been destroyed. Some sources tell about 1000 people killed on place and deceased later from wounds, while other give the number between 200 and 600. In my article I try to analyze different narratives concerning this event, starting from history books written before 1989, through various relations of eyewitnesses to current texts and comments which appear in local media and on the Internet. I use Kenneth Burke’s pentad to describe and classify these narratives. I also refer to Christina Simko’s study about World Trade Center commemorations. In history books written in the communist period the Red Army is the main agent and has full control over time and space. The movements of the Soviet army always follow according to the plan, are purposeful and well coordinated. The Red Army is depicted as bringing deliverance and relief. Some of the eyewitnesses’ relations are in a way similar: the Soviets are presented as cunning and evil, but still able to prepare and carry out malicious plans of destroying Grodzisk intelligentsia and the leaders of Polish Underground State. Conversely, other narratives describe the actions of the Soviets as chaotic and pointless and the Soviet soldiers are depicted as barbarians invading a civilized country. In these relations the agents have no control over time and space, and even their actions are a matter of chance and coincidence. The scene can be referred to as just a point on a map, a battlefield or a home place. The examples of battlefield narratives can be found both in history books written before 1989 and in nowadays comments on various Internet forums. The story is placed in a military context, which is evident in the language used to describe the actions. Eyewitnesses relations are mostly diametrically different. The context for the event is everyday life – the bombardment happens when people are busy with everyday activities: shopping, working, eating in a restaurant, having music lessons. There is a strong scene–act ratio visible – if the act is placed in a military context, it is referred to as battle; if the context is everyday life, it is called a terrorist attack, a murder or a crime. Some narratives (mainly those from the Internet forums) held that it is the defective equipment of the Soviet army which should be blamed and the soldiers’ lack of training. The event is therefore described as nobody’s fault, but a mistake or a misfortune caused by “the fog of war.” This version is hotly opposed to by some narrators, who apparently feel that accidental death is less noble than one in battle. In addition to agency–purpose ratio there is also a purpose–act ratio located in such texts. The story of the Soviet air raid was first explored by Marek Cabanowski, a local activist. In 1990s a memorial tablet was placed in the town main square and for some time anniversary celebrations were held (Holy Masses in the local church, articles in local newspapers). In time however these practices have been abandoned. The graves of the victims at the local cemetery are mostly neglected and partly destroyed. I argue that one of the reasons why this event is slowly being obliterated is the discrepancy between the local stories and more common, “national” narratives. Stories about World War 2 air raids over London or about the World Trade Center attacks are most often shaped according to the model in which death of common people during their everyday activities is presented as meaningful and noble. No such model has been formed in Grodzisk local narratives. The Grodzisk air raid story fits neither of the two most common “national” narrative models: neither the “heroic” one about fighting with the enemy nor a “willing sacrifice” one. This factor, the tension between the local and national narratives is not included in Burke’s pentad, but may be of great importance for the analysis of local narratives