In the German “Die Tageszeitung”, Gabriele Lesser admires the changes in Polish cultural institutions introduced by Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, from December 13, 2023. Moreover, the German journalist allows himself to make extremely impertinent suggestions about “the myth of ‘eternal heroes and victims’” and about “the dark pages of Polish history, that is, the history of the perpetrators.” It seems that everyone, but especially the Germans, would prefer to skip this kind of assessment of Polish historical policy.
There is a clear sigh of relief in the Polish cultural scene. Eight years of national-populist cultural policy of the Law and Justice Party are coming to an end
– announces Gabriele Lesser not without satisfaction in the German “TAZ”.
The German journalist praises, among others, the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz. for the decision on the Polish exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Ignacy Trzecios’ exhibition “Polish exercises in the tragic nature of the world. ‘Between Germany and Russia’ – according to Lesser, representing ‘PiS’s historical ideology focused on the past’ will be replaced by the ‘Repeat after me’ project, dedicated to Russian aggression against Ukraine.
And although his predecessor as minister, Piotr Gliński, talks about censorship and lawlessness, the artistic community is happy that Sienkiewicz has managed to avoid Poland’s impending debt at the Biennale.
– says Gabriele Lesser. An “embarrassment” would probably be a burning swastika linking Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin, but probably not necessarily an embarrassment for Poland. But the “TAZ” journalist continued to develop and decided… to assess the historical policies of PiS.
““Black pages from Polish history”
In light of the crimes of the Second World War and the attitude of the German government on the issue of reparations to Poland, it seems that Germany is talking about Poland’s “myth of eternal heroes and victims” and “black pages from the Polish History’. as an extremely grim and tasteless joke. Apparently not for “TAZ”.
In fact, already in the 1990s, Polish society moved away from the myth of “eternal heroes and victims” and began to deal with the dark pages of Polish history, that is, the history of the perpetrators.
– the German journalist sees the speck in the eye of the Polish nation, but she does not bother to mention the beam in the eye of her own nation.
Lesser regrets that it was “too difficult” for many Poles to “look for a new identity” (that is, probably: the identity of the perpetrators).
In 2005, 2015 and 2019, PiS also won elections with the promise of restoring Poles’ identity as heroes and victims of history.
– the author of the text in “TAZ” ironizes.
Today, after PiS was removed from power, most Polish men and women are ready to face different aspects of Polish history.
– convinces the journalist. The question is what she means by ‘different versions of Polish history’ and where she came up with the statement about ‘the majority of Polish women and men’.
Audits and the ‘giant bloc’
Gabriele Lesser also does not like that during Prof. Gliński, museums and institutions were founded to strengthen national identity. The most difficult thing for a journalist is to get over the fact that the previous government dared to open the Polish Historical Museum.
Poland’s most expensive museum, costing almost a billion zlotys, should have been a major victory for PiS over the opposition’s shame pedagogy.
– writes a TAZ journalist.
The Polish Historical Museum itself (which the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, recently admired, suggesting that it has not had a permanent exhibition “for so many years”, although it opened in September 2023) is described as “a giant block on the inside and gray marble on the outside.”
So much stone was used that Polish quarries could not meet the demand. However, the building is largely empty
– mocks the German journalist.
Hmmm, maybe because – as she rightly pointed out – it was opened during the 2023 election campaign.
The author also notes the audits that Sienkiewicz’s ministry has conducted on cultural institutions, noting that the new government has introduced changes in public media. But the fact that these changes were illegal (just look at the National Court Register, where Mateusz Matyszkowicz is still listed as president of TVP) – is not necessarily true.
It is unbelievable that the Polish “myth of ‘eternal heroes and victims’” is written by a representative of a nation that unleashed a terrible war, attacked Poland, murdered people, looted works of art, cities, villages, houses and infrastructure has destroyed. And not only have they not fully settled the scores for their crimes during World War II, there are still countless surveys showing that well over half of Germans consider themselves victims of Hitler’s policies. It is unbelievable that a representative of the nation of perpetrators of entire nations and ethnic groups writes about the ‘dark pages’ of history and the ‘history of the perpetrators’.
On the one hand, leading German politicians tap representatives of the Polish government on the shoulder and say: “We are sorry because of Hitler and the Second World War,” on the other hand – they have not fully accounted for what they regret. Nazi criminals made a career in politics after the war, and today – after the change of power in Poland – German journalists have the courage to write about Polish history. Maybe they should take care of their own first and want to explore the “different versions” of it?
jj/DW.com
Source: wPolityce