New Eastern Europe - November-December 2017

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racks (where every road leading out of
town led to). There was a Soviet part of
the railway station and special stores for
Soviet soldiers. They also had their own
hospitals, preschools, schools, sport fa-
cilities, cinemas and community centres.
There was a Soviet military prosecutor,
a court and even a prison.
The gigantic building which was the
seat of the Red Army in Poland was lo-
cated in a former German residential
neighbourhood. It was well-protected
and fenced with a wall whose remains
can be found today. One could often
hear Russian on the streets and the sight
of Russian soldiers and vehicles marked
with red stars was commonplace. The
railway schedule included regular de-
partures for trains heading to Moscow.
And the residents of Legnica became
used to Russian planes and helicopters
flying overhead. The local bazaar, locat-
ed near the old Polish castle of the Piast
dynasty which saw the times of Hen-
ry II the Pious and the 1241 battle with
the Mongols, was a place where black

market transactions were taking place

and gold was sold at the cheapest pric-

es in Poland.

Legnica also filled a few pages in the

history of the Cold War. It was here, in

1968, where the Soviet generals, togeth-

er with their Polish allies, prepared and

later led the invasion of the Warsaw Pact

into Czechoslovakia, while the local air-

port was the first place where the leaders

of the Prague Spring were imprisoned.

Demons

In 1994 when Jacek Głomb became
the director of the theatre in Legnica,
the Soviet soldiers had just left the city.
Their traces remained, however, in both
physical objects and the locals’ memory
of the Soviet presence. This included
symbolic and controversial ones such as
the Monument of Gratitude to the Sol-
diers of the Red Army, which – at one

point – was renamed as the Monument

to the Brotherhood in Arms. It can still

be seen on Legnica’s main square (even

though its fate seems to have already

been decided on) where it is located

next to the city hall.

Coming from Tarnów, which is a small

town in the Małopolska region, Głomb

arrived to Legnica where everything

It was from Legnica where the

Soviet generals, together with

their Polish allies, prepared

and later led the invasion

of the Warsaw Pact into

Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Legnica with a view to Russia, Grzegorz Żurawiński Eastern Café