May nobody ever gain the right to decide on the value of human life!

We are erecting a monument to a forgotten genocide. This was the beginning of a terrible series of crimes that has yet not found its place in public consciousness. This lack of memory and historical presence are the most vivid proof that this monument must be raised. It provokes unusually strong emotions and also questions: how is it possible that there were thousands who simply disappeared without a trace? With our initiative, we wish to commemorate the most defenceless victims it is possible to imagine. The extermination of patients with mental disorders was for the Nazis a form of monstrous laboratory where they could test methods of murder later used on others. It was no accident they selected those of us on the margins of social attention or even beyond it. Hitler's system calculated their value and defined their destiny. This is why we would not only like to commemorate but also warn: against forgetfulness, lack of concern, disempowerment and humiliation are just the steps of a terrible ladder leading to annihilation. Let us speak clearly and openly – Nobody has the right to decide on the value of human life! Respect for the dignity of human life is an imperative that must be supported and ever strengthened. No one person may be worse than another because they are "too ill" or "too old" or "too other" in terms of culture, preference or nationhood.

What is this monument to change in our awareness and reality? It will help us take the first step, restore memory and dignity to those who have been denied them. If we fail to do this, it will be all the more difficult to build a society based on mutual respect towards the elderly, children and the mentally unwell – towards those who are other than us.

Dr Zdzisław Jaroszewski witnessed the deportation of children from the psychiatric hospital in Owińska in 1939 and, over the years, endeavoured to protect the memory of these murdered patients. Dr Tadeusz Nasierowski continued his work, and in 2007, he initiated the activities to erect this monument in their memory.

The monument shall stand in the grounds of the former hospital of St. John of God on the corner of Bonifraterska and Sapieżyńska streets in Warsaw. Every donation brings us closer to this objective!