While Poland is now richly served by A-class museums, few, if any, have matched the international impact of POLIN—a museum dedicated to the history of Polish Jews. Yet POLIN has done more than just make waves abroad.
First opening its core exhibition 10 years ago, from the very beginning the museum sought to preserve the memory of the history of Polish Jews while also delivering on a self-proclaimed mission to bridge societal prejudices through its message of tolerance.
Daunting as this task was, not only has the museum met these aims, it has exceeded them as well.
While Barack Obama never fulfilled his promise to attend the museum’s opening on October 28, 2014, thousands of others did. Creating a wave of excitement from the outset, that buzz has yet to taper off.
Daunting as this task was, not only has the museum met these aims, it has exceeded them as well.
While Barack Obama never fulfilled his promise to attend the museum’s opening on October 28, 2014, thousands of others did. Creating a wave of excitement from the outset, that buzz has yet to taper off.
“Looking back over the last decade, the biggest high has been the number of people we’ve been able to attract,” says POLIN’s Franciszek Bojańczyk. “Five million have visited the building, while three million have been to the core exhibition.”
For all intents and purposes, this core exhibition is POLIN’s beating heart. Composed of eight interactive galleries spread over a space of 4,000 square meters, it is these halls that tell the 1,000-year history of Polish Jewry.
To do so, exhibits include a recreation of an interwar Warsaw street, ornate scale models, and arguably the most photographed feature of all, an intricate, richly decorated reconstruction of the Gwoździec synagogue.
For all intents and purposes, this core exhibition is POLIN’s beating heart. Composed of eight interactive galleries spread over a space of 4,000 square meters, it is these halls that tell the 1,000-year history of Polish Jewry.
To do so, exhibits include a recreation of an interwar Warsaw street, ornate scale models, and arguably the most photographed feature of all, an intricate, richly decorated reconstruction of the Gwoździec synagogue.
While the Holocaust receives appropriate and detailed attention, it is to the museum’s endless credit that it does not let this period define the exhibition.
“We wanted to show that the history of Polish Jews is not just a history of the Holocaust, but rather the story of a vibrant community,” says Bojańczyk. “The museum is the story of a people that lived here for 1,000 years and still live here to this day,” he continues. “We wanted very much to underline that this is an ongoing story that doesn’t have an end.”
Designed to stimulate and actively engage, one of the museum’s triumphs has rested on its ability to convey a deep and meaningful story despite lacking a natural wealth of physical exhibits. With so much lost during the Nazi maelstrom, the creators of the core exhibition found themselves embarking on an unconventional path.
“We wanted to show that the history of Polish Jews is not just a history of the Holocaust, but rather the story of a vibrant community,” says Bojańczyk. “The museum is the story of a people that lived here for 1,000 years and still live here to this day,” he continues. “We wanted very much to underline that this is an ongoing story that doesn’t have an end.”
Designed to stimulate and actively engage, one of the museum’s triumphs has rested on its ability to convey a deep and meaningful story despite lacking a natural wealth of physical exhibits. With so much lost during the Nazi maelstrom, the creators of the core exhibition found themselves embarking on an unconventional path.
“When we opened, we were one of the first museums in Poland that looked to tell a narrative,” Bojańczyk tells TVP World. “Rather than making artifacts the central element, the curators and international team that worked on the exhibition made a choice to focus on the story instead and to regale that using the artifacts at hand.”
As experimental as this approach may have seemed at the time, it worked. Moreover, as the museum’s reputation has expanded, so too has its collection.
As experimental as this approach may have seemed at the time, it worked. Moreover, as the museum’s reputation has expanded, so too has its collection.
“Over ten years we’ve accumulated over 19,000 objects, and people continue to donate all the time,” says Bojańczyk. “For some, the object might have little meaning to them, but they realize it's of incredible importance to us.”
A case in point is the recent donation of a religious shawl known as a tallit. “It was donated by one of our friends from the U.S.,” says Bojańczyk. “It originally came from southern Poland, so in a way we can say it has now returned home. It’s a simple object, but to us it's very special.”
A case in point is the recent donation of a religious shawl known as a tallit. “It was donated by one of our friends from the U.S.,” says Bojańczyk. “It originally came from southern Poland, so in a way we can say it has now returned home. It’s a simple object, but to us it's very special.”
Some displays naturally leap out over others: giant canvases by the contemporary Polish artist Wilhelm Sasnal, fanciful Torah crowns or a beautiful 18th-century edition of the Tsene-rene—also known as the women’s Bible.
At other times, less is more. “Something that many visitors don’t see is a brick to the right of the entrance,” says Bojańczyk. “It’s a mezuzah that is typically placed at the entrance of a Jewish home; only this one is made from a brick recovered from the Warsaw Ghetto—it shows how connected we are as a museum to our location.”
At other times, less is more. “Something that many visitors don’t see is a brick to the right of the entrance,” says Bojańczyk. “It’s a mezuzah that is typically placed at the entrance of a Jewish home; only this one is made from a brick recovered from the Warsaw Ghetto—it shows how connected we are as a museum to our location.”
The importance of this connection should not be overlooked. Found in what was formerly the epicenter of Warsaw’s Jewish quarter, POLIN’s positioning in Warsaw’s Muranów district is by no means incidental.
Standing directly opposite the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto Uprising, it was here that the heaviest fighting took place during the 1943 Ghetto Uprising, a doomed revolt undertaken for no better reason than to afford the hopelessly ill-equipped insurgents the opportunity to die with dignity.
Standing directly opposite the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto Uprising, it was here that the heaviest fighting took place during the 1943 Ghetto Uprising, a doomed revolt undertaken for no better reason than to afford the hopelessly ill-equipped insurgents the opportunity to die with dignity.
Fittingly, the museum has been at the forefront of annual commemorations to mark the Ghetto Uprising’s anniversary, and each year local volunteers can be found pounding the streets, handing out paper daffodils (the adopted emblem of the Ghetto Uprising) to passing pedestrians.
Giving out over two million since the ‘daffodil action’ first began, the initiative has forged a bond with the local community while raising awareness of the largest Jewish rebellion in Nazi-occupied Europe.
“When we opened the museum, we created an offer for the whole area,” says Bojańczyk. “It was important for them to understand the role of the museum and also understand what it could do for them.”
Giving out over two million since the ‘daffodil action’ first began, the initiative has forged a bond with the local community while raising awareness of the largest Jewish rebellion in Nazi-occupied Europe.
“When we opened the museum, we created an offer for the whole area,” says Bojańczyk. “It was important for them to understand the role of the museum and also understand what it could do for them.”
Whether intentional or not, it is undeniable that the museum has lifted the profile of the area. Razed to the ground by the Nazis, Muranów found itself rebuilt in stolid Socialist Realist style, with later additions including ugly panel blocks typical of the 1960s; in subsequent years, it became dogged by a reputation as a gloomy neighborhood with an aging population.
The construction of POLIN breathed new life into the district, and today it is recognized as an increasingly lively part of Warsaw—within a stone’s throw of the museum, artisanal cafes and craft bars have flourished, lending the area a more youthful confidence.
The construction of POLIN breathed new life into the district, and today it is recognized as an increasingly lively part of Warsaw—within a stone’s throw of the museum, artisanal cafes and craft bars have flourished, lending the area a more youthful confidence.
While Warsaw’s growing affluence meant that this was always likely to happen, the launch of POLIN can be seen as a milestone moment in the area’s regeneration. Casting Muranów into the international spotlight, the museum has become the area’s calling card and anchor.
This global exposure that POLIN has attracted owes more to just the museum’s content. Visually striking, the building too has been showered with awards. Seen as a stark glass block from the outside, from the inside it surprises with a monumental entrance hall that is filled with light and dynamically curved walls.
At a time when Warsaw’s newly opened Museum of Modern Art has bitterly divided public opinion for its jarring outward aesthetics, POLIN shines out as a structure that has commanded universal acclaim.
This global exposure that POLIN has attracted owes more to just the museum’s content. Visually striking, the building too has been showered with awards. Seen as a stark glass block from the outside, from the inside it surprises with a monumental entrance hall that is filled with light and dynamically curved walls.
At a time when Warsaw’s newly opened Museum of Modern Art has bitterly divided public opinion for its jarring outward aesthetics, POLIN shines out as a structure that has commanded universal acclaim.
Not all are pleased with its existence, though, and the wider geopolitical situation has led to a visible global backlash against Jewish institutions such as POLIN. For their part, the museum has had to walk a tightrope since the Hamas-led attack on Israel last year.
In a statement issued by the museum’s director, Zygmunt Stępiński, POLIN firmly emphasized their stance. “Israel is of particular importance to POLIN, above all because Polish Jews played a significant role in its establishment,” wrote Stępiński. “It is indisputable that the Jewish state has the right to exist; questioning this fact is a manifestation of antisemitism.”
Tellingly, he added: “I firmly condemn both antisemitism and Islamophobia—there can be no tolerance for prejudice, discrimination and hatred against any social, ethnic or religious group.”
In a statement issued by the museum’s director, Zygmunt Stępiński, POLIN firmly emphasized their stance. “Israel is of particular importance to POLIN, above all because Polish Jews played a significant role in its establishment,” wrote Stępiński. “It is indisputable that the Jewish state has the right to exist; questioning this fact is a manifestation of antisemitism.”
Tellingly, he added: “I firmly condemn both antisemitism and Islamophobia—there can be no tolerance for prejudice, discrimination and hatred against any social, ethnic or religious group.”
This diplomatic approach is echoed by Bojańczyk. “We think that the State of Israel is a very important place,” he says. “However, our museum is about the story of Polish Jews; we are not a museum of the State of Israel.”
The tensions that currently dominate the international landscape have not prevented POLIN from keeping to its course, and it is the institution’s fundamental openness that has cemented its status as something more than a mere museum.
The tensions that currently dominate the international landscape have not prevented POLIN from keeping to its course, and it is the institution’s fundamental openness that has cemented its status as something more than a mere museum.
With their workshops and lectures attended by over four million students thus far, POLIN has become a sounding board for ideals, dialogue and exchange.
“We want to make the audience part of our story,” says Bojańczyk. “We don’t just want to tell a story as if we know everything, because we don’t. We want to converse; we want to discuss, and that’s particularly important given the political context of the times we live in.”
“We want to make the audience part of our story,” says Bojańczyk. “We don’t just want to tell a story as if we know everything, because we don’t. We want to converse; we want to discuss, and that’s particularly important given the political context of the times we live in.”
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