JERSEY CITY — Plans to relocate a memorial commemorating the massacre of tens of thousands of Polish officers by the Soviet Union in 1940 is facing opposition here in Jersey City and from the Polish Consulate.

The Katyn memorial, a 34-foot-tall monument depicting a bound-and-gagged soldier impaled in the back by a bayoneted rifle, has been a fixture at Exchange Place since 1991. The city plans to put it in storage during a planned transformation of the Exchange Place plaza into a public park, and the statue may not return to its current location.

Asked to comment, Poland's ambassador to the United States, Piotr Wilczek, said he is "concerned" about the sudden announcement that the memorial may be moved and by the "lack of dialogue" between the city and the Polish-American community.

"I encourage all involved parties to engage in a productive dialogue so that a solution can be arrived at which does not involve a permanent relocation of the memorial," Wilczek said.

The park creation is a project of the Exchange Place Special Improvement District. Its chair, Mike DeMarco, who is also CEO of real-estate firm Mack-Cali, said it's the city's decision whether the statue remains there after the plaza renovation is complete. His personal preference is that it is moved elsewhere.

"I don't think the statue's appropriate for a major metropolitan area," DeMarco told The Jersey Journal. "It's a little gruesome ... I can't imagine how many mothers go by and have to explain it to their children."

DeMarco added that the notion that Russians are backstabbers is "not exactly a politically correct idea nowadays."

Krzysztof Nowak, president of the committee that organized to commission the statue, told The Jersey Journal it should remain where it is. A park can be built around it, Nowak said.

"You want to put a couple of benches around the monument? Put a couple of benches around the monument. You want to put a tree next to the monument? By all means," he said.

Jersey City's Downtown used to be the center of the county's Polish community, which has dwindled in size in recent decades. About 21,000 Hudson County residents report Polish ancestry, according to the latest Census figures. In 1972, that figure was believed to be as high as 100,000.

Downtown Councilman James Solomon said he's concerned that the city's Polish community was not consulted about moving the Katyn memorial. Solomon did not say whether he supports a push to move the statue permanently because he hasn't seen the plans for the new park.

"I haven't seen a proposal so it's hard for me to say pro or con," he said. "We need more green space in the area. Can you incorporate more green space around the statue? Probably."

Journal Square Councilman Rich Boggiano also expressed irritation that plans are being made to move the statue without public input.

"I'm sick and tired of all these new people coming here ... wanting to change everything about Jersey City," Boggiano said. "Stay the hell out of Jersey City, mind your own business. Just leave it alone."

City spokeswoman Hannah Peterson declined to say whether the city supports keeping the statue at Exchange Place, saying only that the city's intention is to "return the statue to the public upon completion" of the park. DeMarco said construction on the park may begin as early as July.

Peterson noted that when the city formally accepted the statue in 1986, the monument was intended to be placed on the Montgomery Street median near Washington Street.

Nowak said he believes the statue is too large to fit on the median.

The Soviet secret police massacred some 22,000 Polish officers and other prisoners in the Katyn forest in 1940 after the Soviets invaded Poland. For decades the Soviet Union blamed Nazis for the killings, but Russia's Parliament in 2010 finally admitted Stalin ordered the massacre.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.