Father Jerzy Popieluszko was the spiritual leader of the Solidarity Union Movement which eventually overthrew the Communist puppet regime and replaced it with a democracy.
Born in Okopy, Poland on September 14, 1947, Jerzy Popieluszko became a respected priest who was sent to minister to striking Warsaw Steelworks. Broadening his base, he began to work with workers and trade unionists of Solidarity Union movement who opposed the Communist regime in Poland.
Through his sermons, he expressed a strong anti-communist message and motivated the people to protest Communist rule. His sermons were broadcast by Radio Free Europe, and thus his message became known throughout Poland. He resisted efforts to silence him by intimidation. In 1983 he was arrested on fabricated evidence but was released and pardoned upon clerical intervention.
He survived an assassination attempt on October 13, 1984. On October 19, 1984 he was kidnapped, beaten and murdered by three Security Police officers. His body was dumped into the Vistula Water Reservoir near Wloclawek from where it was found on October 30, 1984. In 1997, the Roman Catholic Church started the beatification process. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on June 6, 2010.
A two part monument has been installed in New Britain's Walnut Hill Park consisting of: an inscribed stone plaque near a abstract sculpture of an eternal flame.
The stone is inscribed with the Polish Title Zlo Dobrem Zwyciezaj (Good Shall Vanquish Evil)
Zlo Dobrem Zwyciezaj
This human rights monument of common field stone
and steel is built in memory of Father Jerzy
Popieluszko who gave his life to God and to the
goals of Solidarosc – human rights, justice,
peace and freedom for Poland and for all mankind.
May this eternal flame of liberty and the
memory of his courage and sacrifice burn forever
in the hearts of all freedom loving people.
1947 Good shall vanquish evil 1984
The abstract sculpture of the eternal flame was created by Henry Chotkowski and dedicated on June 16, 1989. An aluminum plaque on the stone wall surrounding the sculpture explains the significance of the sculpture:
THE MONUMENT
The inspiration for our human rights monument was born in Warsaw shortly after the brutal slaying by the communists of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, the courageous, outspoken, spiritual leader of the Solidarosc movement.
One night shortly after his murder the people of his parish gathered a pile of field stones as a monument before their church. The communist police, the 'zomos', tore it down the next day. The following night the people again built a similar monument, and again it was torn down. We here in Connecticut then decided to build an eternal flame, stone and steel monument that nobody would tear down. The monument was to be constructed of long-lasting steel in the form of a flame fed by common field stones placed there by people symbolizing their commitment to the goal of human rights for Poland and for all mankind.
The steel is caller Cor-ten, a type that first weathers and oxidizes to a light brown rust color, and then gradually becomes brown black, thereafter remaining unchanged for centuries.
Symbolically, the curved pieces represent flames, and the bars represent imprisonment and suppression, as under martial law. However the flames escape and burn, while the bars ironically support the flames and the principle of human rights. Each person viewing the monument will experience a symbolism particular to his own vision, though the overall message should be much the same. The plaque spells out the universal hope for human rights, freedom and peace.