25th Anniversary of The Memorial to Polish Soldiers and German Anti-Fascists in Berlin 9.5.1972

The Memorial to Polish Soldiers and German Anti-Fascists is a war memorial in Berlin, dedicated in 1972. Built by the German Democratic Republic during the division of Germany, it is today the principal German monument to the Polish soldiers who died in World War II, as well as an important monument to the German resistance.

The monument is located in Volkspark Friedrichshain, in the borough of Friedrichshain in former East Berlin. It was conceived at a time of improving relations between East Germany and Poland as a monument to the cooperation between the communist Polish People's Army and German communists in the struggle against fascism. The monument of gray Silesian granite was designed by the Polish sculptors Zofia Wolska and Tadeusz Łodzian and the Germans Arnd Wittig and Günther Merkel. Its centerpiece is a pair of parallel 15-meter stone columns (which are actually a single structure) united by a bronze flag. The monument area is in the foot of a hill, and is set off with a wall bearing the motto of Tadeusz Kościuszko, "For your freedom and ours," in Polish (Za waszą i naszą wolność) and German (Für eure und unsere Freiheit), and a relief showing figures of a Polish and Red Army soldier together with a German resistance fighter. Below the columns is the dedicatory plaque, in Polish, German, and Russian, where wreath-laying ceremonies take place.

The monument was rededicated in 1995 following German reunification to include non-communist Polish soldiers and victims of the Nazis, as well as all German resistance movements, and plaques in Polish and German were added explaining this. The monument was left otherwise unchanged, and the columns still bear the communist-era coat of arms of the People's Republic of Poland and the coat of arms of East Germany.

In recent years, concern mounted as to the amount of vandalism and graffiti inflicted on the monument. In 2004, a German company agreed to sponsor the maintenance of the monument. In 2005, the memorial was defaced with neo-Nazi slogans.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

The 3¢ blue green U.S stamp on this cover commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial on 11^th August 1952. The stamp was released in the city of Keystone, SD.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a gigantic sculpture carved into a granite cliff called Mount Rushmore. This cliff is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, about 25 miles from Rapid City, South Dakota. The sculpture shows the faces of four American Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is said to represent the first 150 years of American history.

Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) designed the memorial. In 1927, Borglum began guiding 400 workers using drills and dynamite in shaping the sculpture. After Borglum’s death in 1941, his son, Lincoln, supervised the completion of the monument. This was accomplished several years later.

Each President’s granite sculpture is about 60 feet high – equivalent to a five-story building. The memorial rises more than 500 feet over the valley, which adds to its dominating impression. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a very popular tourist destination.

Thank you Merja for this lovely cover.