Tourist routes in Gdańsk: Symbols and memorials
The Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers/Shutterstock
The Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers commemorates the recent, tragic story of the victims of the 1970 workers' strikes. This massive monument consists of three crosses, with a height of 42m (and weighing almost 140 tons), and placed on their tops are anchors (2 tons each), which constitute a symbol of hope. Reliefs have been placed at the bottom depicting scenes from the shipbuilders' lives, as well as a quote from Psalm 29 and a fragment of Milosz Czeslaw's poem entitled You Who Wronged. The monument was unveiled on the 10th anniversary of the events, on 16 December 1980. The spot the monument lies on is symbolic as it is near the second gate of the Gdańsk Shipyard, and right next to it is where the first shots were fired, killing the workers. The construction of the monument had been attempted since 1971, but it was not possible until the August Agreements (one of the main demands of which was to commemorate the dead). During the persistent strikes in August 1980, the participants and residents of the Tri-City collected funds for the monument's construction, and there were also benefactors from the whole of Poland. Henryk Lenarciak was the head of the committee overseeing the construction of the monument.