History

The cemetery was created gradually. On 23 September 1928, on the land donated by a local farmer, Aleksander Kozera, a Monument of Victorious Legions by Konstanty Laszczka was unveiled. The monument has the form of an obelisk of white sandstone, topped with a bronze sculpture of a crowned eagle preparing to fly. Under the monument, ashes of the unknown legionary fallen on 23 September 1914 were buried. One year later, a slab with inscription "Here lies the unknown legionary fallen near Czarkowy on 23rd of September 1914" was blessed. In 1937, along the eastern side of the cemetery, a dozen or so legionaries were buried, exhumed from cemeteries and graves in Busko, Jurków, Pińczów, Skowronno Górne, Stary Korczyn and Stopnica. The cemetery was fenced with iron rods on concrete pillars and planted with bushes. On 21 July 1944, 44 soldiers of the Polish Army fallen in 1939 were buried here, exhumed earlier from the local graves, and with them, probably a dozen or so Home Army partisans.  In the night of 20 to 21 July 1944, a funeral of the fallen commander of a squad in Home Army section, sublieutenant Józef Lenczewski, was held. In January 1945, the Monument of Victorious Legions was demolished by Bolsheviks.  A couple of years later, parish priest of Stary Korczyn Stefan Opar planted an iron cross on its plinth. In 1984, a board with the international monument protection sign was installed on the cemetery. In 1992, the Monument of Victorious Legions was rebuilt. In 2011, the cemetery was renovated.

Description

The cemetery is located beyond the village, among fields, on a hill by the Route of Józef Piłsudski leading to Winiary. It is shaped as a right-angled triangle, with an area of ca. 0.05 ha. It is surrounded by a fence made of cast iron. In the front of the entrance, there is a monument approximately 12 m high. It is shaped as a quadrangular column topped with a bronze sculpture of a crowned eagle preparing to fly. On the front side of the monument, there is an inscription: "To the glory of first struggles of Józef Piłsudski for independence of Poland", and on its eastern side: "Here, on 23.IX.1914, a heroic platoon of Młot Fijałkowski gave their live in a victorious fight"; from the back: "Pińczowski District to the Heroic Combatants for Freedom of the Home Land on 23.IX.1928", and from the western side: "Kielce, Nowy Korczyn, Ostrowce, Szczytniki, Czarkowe, Opatowiec 6.VIII.1914 25.IX.1914". In the front of the monument, there is a Tomb of the Soldier Unknown. Along the eastern wall, there is a row of 14 gravestones sized 75x150 cm, with engraved crosses and distinctions of the 1st Brigade of Polish Legions "For Faithful Service" and inscriptions "Unknown soldier of the 1st Brigade of Polish Legions. Died 15 May 1915". Along the longest side there of the cemetery, there is a common earthy grave in a cement surrounds where soldiers fallen in September 1939 are buried. It features a limestone monument by Edward Stoksik positioned in the middle, in the form of a relief of two soldiers — fallen and striking one, and an inscription: "Honour and Glory to the Heroic Polish Soldiers fallen at Ksany on 8.IX.1939 in the number of 44 souls of the 11th Infantry Regiment Tarnowskie Góry". In the south-western corner, there is a single grave of Józef Lenczewski, sub-lieutenant of the Home Army fallen on 15.VII.1944. Behind the grave, on a pyramid-shaped base, there is a broken candle of split limestone.

The cemetery is generally accessible.

Compiled by Nina Glińska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland Kielce, 27.11.2014.

Bibliography

• Karta ewidencyjna cmentarza, Czarkowy. Cmentarz wojenny legionistów 1914-1915 i żołnierzy 1939 r. oraz partyzantów Armii Krajowej, oprac. Oettingen Urszula, Czarkowy 1982, Archiwum Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Konserwatorskiego w Kielcach.
• Bienias A., Choiński M., Pietrzyk S., Przybyszewski S.M., Czarkowy 1914-1994, Czarkowy-Kazimierza Wielka 1994.
• Kaczanowski L., Paprocki W., Miejsca pamięci narodowej 1939-1945 w województwie kieleckim, Kielce 1989, pp. 62-63.
• Oettingen U., Cmentarze I wojny światowej w województwie kieleckim, Warszawa-Kraków 1988, pp. 105-108.
• Sabat T., Zub J., Konserwacja zabytkowych cmentarzy [in:] compiled by Cedro J. and others, Prace konserwatorskie w woj. świętokrzyskim w latach 2001-2012, Kielce 2014, pp. 180.