On November 10, 2024, the monthly Smolensk remembrance ceremony once again took place in Warsaw. Attention focused on the controversial stairs erected near the Smolensk monument, which activists described as illegal and a symbol of political manipulation.
The activists reminded that the stairs were built without proper authorization from the City of Warsaw and remain subject to a court order for removal. They declared that dismantling the structure would mark “the end of the Smolensk lie,” directly challenging the narrative promoted for years by Jarosław Kaczyński and his political allies.
The gathering was accompanied by chants such as “Putinada!” and calls for the restoration of democratic order free from the divisions fueled by instrumentalizing the Smolensk tragedy. For critics, the stairs epitomize how memory politics has been used to polarize Polish society. For supporters, they remain part of the symbolic landscape of mourning and patriotism.
