The mural commemorates members of the Jewish Combat Organization, including Mordechai Anielewicz, commander of the Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB), Mira Fuchrer, Izrael Chaim Wilner, Rachele Zylberberg, Lutek Rotblat, and Tosia Altman. They all hid during the Ghetto Uprising in the bunker at Miła 18.
Including civilians, there were nearly 300 people inside. On May 8, 1943, the Germans surrounded the bunker. The civilians abandoned their hiding place, but the fighters put up a fight. The Germans threw grenades inside and released gas. Deprived of hope for rescue, the fighters most likely committed suicide. Only a few people managed to leave the bunker through the unobstructed exit, including Tosia Altman.
Chaim Wilner's words: "We do not want to save our lives. None of us will survive. We want to save human dignity" – became a symbol of the fight for honor.
Students from the 81st Aleksander Fredro Secondary School and the Wojciech Gerson State Secondary School of Fine Arts in Warsaw participated in cutting out the templates with the images.
A new, large-format work will decorate the wall of the building at 5 Miła Street (opposite the Anielewicz Mound), near the archaeological site at the intersection of Miła and Dubois Streets, where archaeological research and excavations began in 2022, led by the Warsaw Ghetto Museum and a team of scientists from Christopher Newport University and the Aleksander Gieysztor Academy in Pułtusk – a branch of the Vistula University.
During the event, we will hear about the process of creating the mural, its protagonists and the extremely important significance of this place in the space of contemporary Warsaw.
The mural's unveiling ceremony will be attended by, among others, its creator, Dariusz Paczkowski, the management and team of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, representatives of the community and the MIŁA Housing Cooperative, and students and teachers from schools participating in the project.
