On April 19TH, an exhibition entitled For Poland’s freedom at the Ghetto Memorial was opened at the Ohel.
Report on the exhibition opening
For over 60 years the Ghetto Uprising Memorial in Warsaw’s Muranow district has stood as a symbol of the Holocaust and struggle for freedom. Over the following decades this special location was a witness to numerous other significant events of history.
Fighting for democracy and respect for civic rights during the marshal law years, the “Solidarity” opposition also appealed for truth about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In 1983 the communist authorities – which had until then indiscriminately employed anti Semitic slogans in their battle against the opposition – organised grand scale Ghetto Uprising anniversary celebrations; in an effort to improve their international image. With active involvement of Marek Edelman, “Solidarity” organised their own gathering at the monument, at which they strongly articulated the analogy between the Jewish struggle in the ghetto and the opposition’s struggle against the communist system; emphasizing that the right to live in freedom and dignity was at the heart of both.
The rally held in 1983 was dispersed by the militia, with further repressive measures following, whereas in 1988 no one intervened when many thousands gathered at the monument and the former Umschlagplatz site. The homage paid to the ghetto insurgents and Holocaust victims proved to a harbinger of the victory, finally achieved in 1989.
On more than 30 display boards, the exhibition For Poland’s freedom at the Ghetto Memorial presents archival photographs and texts as well as materials from Polish official and underground press accompanied by foreign press commentaries, published mainly in the New York Times. There are also interviews with participants in unauthorized Ghetto Uprising anniversary ceremonies – Teresa Bogucka, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Konstanty Gebert, Paula Sawicka and Bella Szwarcman–Czarnota, whose accounts are enriched with a fascinating contemporary element – their present-day commentary on the issues of 20 years ago. They show what the rituals that have taken place at the Memorial mean to them today.
“In my view, the most meaningful element of the exhibition is the opportunity to confront archival materials about those events with afterthoughts of their participants and to show how they have evolved”, says Kinga Duda, exhibition curator. “Another interesting element of the exhibition is the role played by oral history in the objectivised historical discourse – i.e. witness accounts which demonstrate how human memory works. Of course, the subjective memory of each participant is different.”
The exhibition will stay open until June 20th, 2009. We invite you to visit it.
Organizers of the exhibition :
Project coordination:
Agnieszka Rudzińska, Renata Piątkowska
Substantive concept:
Helena Datner, Stanisław Krajewski
Curators:
Kinga Duda, Tamara Sztyma-Knasiecka
Cooperation:
Agata Pietrasik
Design:
Malwina Antoniszczak assisted by Jacek Paździor
Graphics:
Krzysztof Słomka, At Work
Translation:
Tristan Korecki, Piotr Krasnowolski, Marek Jeżowski
Promotion:
Paweł Brylski (pbrylski@jewishmuseum.org.pl)
Interviews with demonstration participants were conducted in March 2009 by:
Julia Popławska, Wojciech Rytel
We thank the following individuals and institutions for archival materials and photographs:
Hanna Szmalenberg,
Anna Beata Bohdziewicz,
Erazm Ciołek,
Tomasz Tomaszewski,
Jewish Historical Institute,
Institute of National Remembrance
