The NIK building at Filtrowa Street is situated in the protected development area. When the signs of Fighting Poland started to appear from under the plaster, employees of the renovation company (also graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts) immediately recognised the rank of their discovery. There are only a few similar symbols in Warsaw, one of them being the anchor on the Monument to the Aviator.
NIK is located near that Monument. The minor sabotage operation led by the Polish Home Army - as part of which signs of Fighting Poland were painted - was particularly intensive there. Most anchors came into being in Ochota and Mokotów districts. They were made mainly by Polish scouts fighting with the German propaganda and keeping up the spirit of the Polish.
The scouts used to depart for operations alone or in twos, mainly in the night. Painting anchors was an act of courage. They were made on the buildings monitored by the Germans, even the ones holding the quarters of our enemy at that time. That was the case with the present headquarters of NIK. During the occupation the Office of the Governor of the Warsaw District was located in that building. ”The anchors were painted on the Germans’ doorstep. One of the drawings even tells the history of one operation” - says Dariusz Żak from the Department of Facilities & Logistics of NIK. Specialists from the renovation company mentioned that a small, incomplete anchor was painted at first. ”Someone must have frightened the scouts. They came back, though, to finish the drawing.” - explains Żak. In the long run, another, bigger symbol of Fighting Poland was painted.
The renovation company requested the Warsaw Historic Preservation Officer on behalf of NIK to issue recommendations. The anchors will probably be exposed and covered with a laminated glass plaque. They will be clearly visible even from a tram going by near the headquarters of NIK.
The anchor being the sign of Fighting Poland [in Polish: Polska Walcząca] was a phenomenon known all over the world. The characteristic letters ”P” and ”W” intertwined to resemble an anchor were painted on the walls during the German occupation. It built up the will of resistance in the Polish and kept up their hope to regain independence. After the Second World Was the anchor did not lose its significance. In the times of the communist dictatorship it symbolised fight with that system and hope for freedom. ”Today it’s a sign of remembrance of the ones who were fighting for independent Poland” - says the Press Officer of the Institute of National Remembrance Andrzej Arseniuk.
The author of the symbol of Fighting Poland was probably Anna Smoleńska, born in 1920, a student of the history of arts at the conspirational University of Warsaw and a scout in the Grey Ranks [in Polish: Szare Szeregi].
The first time the anchor appeared on the Warsaw buildings was on 20 March 1942. The underground ”Information Bulletin” of the Home Army wrote one month afterwards: ”We cannot explain the popularity of this sign. Maybe this is the willingness to show our enemy that in spite of everything - it did not break our spirit. Or maybe what moves the imagination of designers is the anchor being the sign of hope”.
