Defending Polish Heroes: Debate Over the Gdańsk WWII Museum Exhibition

Polish ruling party MPs announced plans to submit a draft resolution to the Sejm, urging the government to intervene in restoring the exhibition at the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk that honors Polish heroes. They stated that a meeting of Poles would be held to oppose any effort to present history from a German perspective. One speaker asserted that Poland is a nation governed by its Sejm, not by a General Government policy, and urged Marshal Szymon Hołownia to bring the resolution to the agenda and defend Polish history, tradition, and law.

The museum in Gdańsk, run since April by Prof. Rafał Wnuk, announced ongoing and completed changes to the main exhibition. The changes would revert the display to a version used in 2017, including the removal of portraits of captains and other items such as Witold Pilecki, Father Maksymilian Kolbe, and a multi-format photograph of the Ulma family.

READ ALSO: Beautiful and symbolic lighting! Captain Pilecki, Saint Father Kolbe and blessed the Ulma family depicted on the facade of the Presidential Palace

PiS resolution on the Gdańsk controversy

The party declared the submission of a draft resolution to demand government action to restore the exhibition featuring Polish heroes, namely Captain Witold Pilecki, the Ulma family, and Father Maksymilian Kolbe.

Key spokespersons framed the move as a response to concessions to a German historical narrative that questions German crimes committed during the Second World War.

One MP announced a plan to request adding the item to the Sejm agenda for consideration of the resolution.

We are in Poland, this is not the General Government, this is the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, and it is hoped that a parliamentary figure will introduce and defend Polish history, tradition, and law on the agenda.

— a participant stated at a press briefing.

Protest action in defense of heroes

Another MP outlined a protest set for the following day. At 5:30 p.m., gatherings were planned in front of the Monument to Captain Pilecki in Warsaw, at the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, and at the Museum of the Blessed Ulma Family in Markowa. Participants were expected to honor Polish heroes while strongly opposing any effort to impose a German narrative of history on Poland.

A prominent figure argued that Poland would be diminished without Pilecki, the Ulma family, and Father Kolbe, describing the proposed changes as incomprehensible to millions of Poles and insisting that Polish history not be falsified.

Another MP highlighted the urgency of convening an extraordinary session of the parliamentary culture committee to discuss what was described as a scandal. The work plan included a nonpartisan draft resolution, regarded as straightforward and acceptable, championing Polish memory, pride, and identity as a core, shared value across political divides.

Critique of Polish heroism’s minimization

Supporters argued that removing figures of Polish national heroes from the permanent exhibit would harm memory and undermine the program intended to honor Polish heroism and martyrdom during the war. The plan asserted that the museum’s leadership was subordinating the museum’s program to external interests aligned with German historical policy.

The Sejm was urged to compel the government to swiftly restore the heroic figures to their rightful place within the main exhibition.

The museum’s own statement indicated an intention to restore consistency across the entire display, returning to earlier elements of the exhibition dealing with the system of concentration camps and the road to Auschwitz as part of the section called The Horror of War.

The dispute over the main exhibition has stretched since 2017, following the museum opening established by a team led by Paweł Machcewicz. Shortly after the launch, Machcewicz was replaced by Karol Nawrocki, who had previously led public education at the Institute of National Remembrance in Gdańsk and now heads that institute. The new management altered the main exhibition, which had been crafted by Machcewicz and colleagues, including Janusz Marszalec (now deputy director of the Institute for the Second World War), Piotr M. Majewski, and Rafał Wnuk (the current head of the Institute for the Second World War).

In 2018, the case went before the District Court in Gdańsk. Two years later, the court rejected most of the former directors’ demands regarding changes to the main exhibition. One claim was granted: the removal of a film produced by the Institute of National Remembrance called The Invincibles. Other demands, such as removing portraits of Father Kolbe and Pilecki along with multimedia stands, photos of Warsaw insurgents, images of the Ulma family with a stand about Poland saving Jews, and images related to clergy victims of Dachau, were rejected.

READ ALSO:

– This is no ordinary liquidation! It is a neo-Bolshevik invasion and dismantling of the Polish character. What does the removal of heroes from the WWII museum mean?

– Kosiniak-Kamysz on the WWII museum scandal: It’s just sad. Why do such a thing? Were these images so disturbing?

— PiS councillors react to the scandal at the Museum of the Second World War! Müller: They will submit a draft resolution calling for a change to this decision

– Absurd statements by the Minister of Culture! Wróblewska: The exhibition in the Museum of the Second World War cannot be a ‘catalogue’ of all the prominent people

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Source: wPolityce