Polish war cemetery

The largest of the four Polish cemeteries in Italy. Here are buried 1,432 soldiers of the 2nd Army Corp, who died in the fighting on the Gothic line, Emilian Apennines, during the battle around Bologna. Among these, there are also 14 soldiers died between 1947 and 1957.

To tell this is Giuseppe Campana inside the text dedicated to the 2nd Army Corp: "1943-1947. Il secondo Corpo d’armata polacco in Italia".

The location of the cemetery on the road of via Emilia Levante, on the outskirts of Bologna, remembers the fact that the soldiers entered the city from this area of the Savena river heading for Porta Mazzini. In the cemetery lie the remains of those killed in the Romagna Apennines in the Autumn of 1944, on the Senio in the Spring 1945 and in the battle of Bologna.

The cemetery was founded by the general Władysław Anders,  founder and commander of the 2nd Polish Army Corp. Dedicated to Anders the monument that stands at the entrance. The  cemetery was realized between July 1st 1946 and December 15 1946 by the soldiers of the 10th Battalion of miners of the 2nd Army Corp with the contribution of Italian stonemasters.

 The progect was carried out by the lieutenant architect Zygmunt Majerski (1909-1979). On October 12 1946 the cemetery was consecrated by the representatives of all confessions with the bishop of the Polish Armed Forces, Józef Gawlina, and in the presence of general Władysław Anders. The altar lies at the centre of the cemetery, under a portico with eight slender columns. Behind the shelf there is a crypt with headstones recalling the sacrifice of Poles in Italy.

Between 1962 and 1965 the cemetery was restored thanks to general Anders and captain Jan Jaworski of Torino and, between 1969-1972, thanks to the Polish veteran association in Canada. The monument is owned by the Commissariato generale per le onoranze ai Caduti in guerra of Ministero della Difesa.