Warsaw Uprising Mural Vandals Still At Large

Last summer, a vibrant new mural went up in Greenpoint at 261 Driggs Avenue, the location of the Polish National Home and the popular music venue, The Warsaw. Created by Polish-American artist Rafal Pisarczyk, the artwork commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising (not to be confused with the earlier Warsaw Ghetto Uprising).

The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance to liberate the city of Warsaw from the Nazi German occupiers. It was timed to coincide with the expected retreat of the German forces as the Soviet Union’s Red Army advanced into the city through the eastern suburbs. However, the Soviet advance stopped short just outside of the city, enabling the Germans to demolish Warsaw while defeating the Polish resistance, which fought for 63 days with little outside support. It is estimated that about 16,000 members of the Polish resistance were killed and about 6,000 badly wounded. In addition, between 150,000 and 200,000 Polish civilians died, mostly due to systematic, mass executions by the Nazis.

Unfortunately, several weeks ago a trio of talentless mouth-breathers spray-painted indecipherable, generic bubble letters over the memorial—obscuring the faces of the heroes of the Uprising and totally destroying the piece. Needless to say, the Polish community is fairly upset about it. Given the timing of the vandalism (three days after Poland’s Independence Day) and the sheer visual pointlessness/ugliness of the vandals’ shoddy spray-can control and “craftsmanship,” police are investigating this as a hate crime.

The trio left their tags at the scene, so if you know T.REX, EHC, or CIK, or otherwise have any tips, please call the NYPD tip line at 1-800-577-TIPS. These guys are no Banksy; they’re certainly no Neck Face; hell, they’re not even on the artistic level of Dick Chicken.

While concerned residents offered to raise money for a new mural, the club has said that they will cover the cost themselves.  As reported by NY1, Warsaw’s general manager Mark Chroscielewski had this to say: “This is pretty much a total loss…the cost of this vandalism to us is going to be close to $5,000.”