The City Government Reviews The Wishes Of The Polish Embassy To Build A Monument In Medan Polonia

The Medan City Government reviewed the proposal of the Polish Embassy for Indonesia to build a memorial in Medan Polonia District, in order to perpetuate the services of Ludwig Michalski, a Polish who is believed to have given the name "Polonia" to the region.

"We will study it first about its history," said the Head of the Medan Lilik City Regional Secretariat Cooperation Section in Medan, North Sumatra, as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 19.

According to Lilik, the study was needed to equalize perceptions of the region's historicality.

That way, he added, both the Medan City Government and the Polish side could maximize the existence of the monument for the common good.

"So ideally there should be cooperation between the two parties," said Lilik.

On December 13, 2023, Deputy Ambassador of Poland Piotr Firlus said that his party had discussed this with the Deputy Mayor of Medan Aulia Rachman.

For Piotr, the monument or inscription in Polonia will strengthen relations between Poland and Medan or North Sumatra in general.

The Polish people, he said, were quite close to the story of Ludwig Michalski. However, the story is not yet known by the residents of Medan.

"We are very happy with this Polish footprint in Medan. We want to capture it and it can be an attraction for the Polish people to travel to Medan," said Piotr.

In the Polish State book for Beginners written by Arun Smieszek and Piotr Smieszek (2021), it was stated that Ludwig Michalski's name was actually one of the Polish fighters who fought Russia about 150 years ago. His real name is Ludwik Matyasek.

The defeat to Russia made Matyasek, who was born in Krakow, Poland, self-isolate to Siberia and managed to enter Switzerland by changing his name to Ludwig Michalski.

After studying engineering at a Swiss polytechnic, Ludwig and his wife moved to North Sumatra, to be precise Medan, whose economy is developing on input from their friends.

Once there, Sultan Deli heard the work of Ludwig Michalski in the Polish-Russian battle and his ability in engineering. The Sultan then made him responsible for forming a sultanate guard with a European model.

Ludwig was able to carry out all his duties. Sultan Deli also invited him to rent land, then opened his own tobacco plantation in 1872. The plantation was later named "Polonia" by Ludwig on the grounds of patriotism. Polonia is a Polish name in Latin. At that time, Polonia was the name for Polish immigrants.

Ludwig, who managed to raise many profits from the plantation, decided to return to Switzerland in 1875, then settled there until he died in 1888.