In the autumn of 1979, the Chief Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation put forward an initiative to establish a nationwide Mausoleum of Martyrdom of Polish Villages. Michniów was indicated as the proposed location. In 1981, a joint appeal of the Kielce districts of the Society of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy and the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society appeared in this matter. Three years later, the presidium of the Provincial National Council in Kielce established the Organizing Committee for the Construction of the Mausoleum of Martyrdom of the Polish Village in Michniów. The committee was headed by Westerplatte's defender in Battle of Westerplatte, and also the president of the ZBoWiD provincial board - commander Leon Pająk. In 1987, the Honorary Committee was established under the leadership of Roman Malinowski - Marshal of the Sejm of the Polish People's Republic. The cornerstone for the construction of the mausoleum was laid in November 1989. The original plans were very ambitious because they assumed the construction of a large spatial and functional complex in Michniów.