![A German soldier stands on a toppled Polish monument. [LCID: 50312]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/a588591d-a165-4637-a6fc-01bf910c77b4.jpg)
A German soldier stands on a toppled Polish monument. Krakow, Poland, 1940.
This statue commemorated the Polish victory at Grunwald over the Teutonic knights in 1410. In accordance with the plans of German occupation authorities in Poland, all physical symbols of Polish national culture were to be obliterated to make way for the "Germanization" of the country.
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