Polish memorial sculpture relocated

After months of at-times bitter debate, the statue depicting five emaciated Polish cavalry soldiers found a noncontroversial resting spot yesterday on a patch of brick near the World Trade Center MBTA station on the South Boston waterfront.

The ``Partisans " statue had been stationed on the Boston Common for 22 years, but was evicted in January by city officials who found it somewhat depressing and said it had not originally been intended to have a permanent home there.

The new site isn't as green as the Common and has considerably less foot traffic, but the sculptor said he found it more architecturally interesting.

The statue sits well above street level, on the topmost side of a brick-lined viaduct leading up to the front entrance of the World Trade Center.

``Here it looks a little more different, a little more surrealistic," said Andrew Pitynski of Brooklyn, N.Y., who shaped the work of art to honor the sacrifice of Poles who fought the Russians and Nazis during World War II.

``Still my heart is in the Boston Common, but it's a little closer to God here," Pitynski said.

Marek Lesniewski-Laas , Poland's honorary consul in Boston, also watched the installation and a wreath-laying by six veterans who fought for Poland during World War II. If the Jewish and the Irish can have monuments in Boston, then the Polish should too, Lesniewski-Laas said.

``In the Cradle of Liberty, Polish monuments ought to stand," he said.

``Today we have the sculpture truly in a place of honor," said MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas .

``I am Lithuanian and I think so many of us, in our conversations around this statue, have shared the stories of our families. When I see this statue I think of our own Partisans," he said.

ADRIENNE P. SAMUELS