He decided to leave Częstochowa with the pain and grief of losing the entire immediate family, close and distant relatives, friends from the neighborhood, schoolmates and acquaintances.

The plans to erect the monument next to the POLIN Museum, in the heart of the former Warsaw Ghetto, were harshly criticized by a significant number of Polish Jews.

[2] The president of the Jewish Community of Warsaw (pl) Anna Chipczyńska said she had regrets that they could not find an alternative site that would allow both the honouring of the Righteous Among the Nations as well as avoiding controversies and disagreements.

[3] The winners of the competition, Austrian architect Gabu Heindl and artist Eduard Freudmann, decided to include the controversies in their monument project and proposed to plant a forest nursery consisting of thousands of saplings next to the museum.

[4] An international jury of 10 architects, artists, and curators chose The Monument May Be A Forest as the winning proposal, because the project represented the commemoration of the processual aspect rather than just using imposing physical presence; it is based on "notions of care, commitment, fragility and risk" as well as the actual act of sheltering the Jews and has the potential to spread the commemoration across time and space.

[3] The architect of the POLIN Museum, Rainer Mahlamäki, one of the judges who voted for the trees, sees the winner of the competition as a new type of art and memorial as opposed to a monument.

[7] In February 2016 Rolat invited the Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan to take on the project but he declined[8] after he had read an article written by Freudmann and Heindl, in which they criticize the foundation and their course of action.

[10] On May 9, 2016, Rolat received The Jan Karski Humanitarian Award at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York City.

In November 2013 he received the Spirit of Jan Karski Award at David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies 10th Anniversary Dinner.

In recognition of his efforts at Polin, The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, President Lech Kaczyński honored him with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland during the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on April 19, 2008.

On April 16, 2015, Sigmund Rolat was the guest of honor at the International March of the Living memorial ceremony in Auschwitz-Birkenau on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

He concluded his remarks with a fourth reason to remember: gratitude "to those Poles who – like my Elka – risked their lives to save Jews from the chimneys of Auschwitz.

"[14][15] On April 18, 2015, Rolat spoke at a March of the Living event at the University of Warsaw honoring Survivors, Liberators, and Righteous Among the Nations.