Russian aggression against Ukraine has already led to countless crimes and caused victims and suffering. In such circumstances, people are most important. The people facing barbarous bombing and the soldiers fighting against the aggressor. Today the Ukrainians pay with their lives to defend their Homeland. However, any war leads also to irreparable loss of cultural and national heritage.
Right now, Ukrainian museums are confronted with extreme challenges. What can be done to protect and save collections that reflect the heritage of the past generations?
In Poland we understand it all too well. The acts of looting and destroying our cultural property were unprecedented during WWII. The finale of pillage and annihilation of Warsaw took place during the Warsaw Rising and right after its end. No other nation and state should ever have to face such loss again. Today, unfortunately, such a threat hangs over Ukraine.
In order to prevent catastrophe and support our colleagues in Ukraine we have established The Committee of Ukrainian Museums (Komitet Pomocy Muzeom Ukrainy). Our objectives are:
– to support all the museums and cultural institutions in Ukraine to protect their collections, most valuable items and the monuments of the Ukrainian culture
– to provide support when it comes to document, digitize and take stock of their collections
– to provide materials needed to protect and hide the collections
– to share experiences
– to document the acts of looting and destruction of the Ukrainian cultural property.
Our joint effort to preserve the cultural and national heritage of Ukraine is our joint struggle!
The Office of the Committee is open at the Warsaw Rising Museum at 79, Grzybowska Street in Warsaw.
Contact details:
Ms. Anna Drozd
tel.: 22 376 68 36 – for Ukrainian speakers,
tel.: 22 376 68 43 – for Polish and English speakers,
Mobile: 451 056 094,
e-mail: info@muzealnicydlaukrainy.pl
We have already contacted museums in Ukraine to find out what they need. We may organise transport to Ukraine. We are looking for sponsors and logistics partners.
Please share with us via e-mail any contact details to reach museums in Ukraine.
Our social media channels:
All Ukrainian museums are kindly invited to contact us via our social media as well. If you represent a Polish museum or cultural institution, let us also know if you want to join our efforts to provide help.
Our communication will be published/posted in Polish, Ukrainian and English language versions.
We fully encourage all institutions who support the work of the Committee to share our posts via their social media.
So far, the Committee is represented by:
Robert Andrzejczyk – Director of the Józef Piłsudski Museum in Sulejówek
Bogna Bender-Motyka – Director of the Lublin Open Air Village Museum
Grzegorz Berendt – Director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk
Piotr Cywiński – Director of Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial
Hubert Czachowski – Director of the Ethnographic Museum in Toruń
Piotr Dmitrowicz – Director of the Museum of John Paul II and Primate Stefan Wyszyński
Paweł Dusza – Director of the Schoen Palace Museum in Sosnowiec
Wojciech Fałkowski – Director of the Royal Castle Museum in Warsaw
Dorota Folga-Januszewska – Deputy Director of the Museum of King Jan’s III Palace at Wilanów
Jacek Friedrich – Director of the National Museum in Gdańs
Dariusz Gawin – Deputy Director of the Warsaw Rising Museum
Andrzej Gołąb – Director of the Regional Museum in Krasnystaw
Piotr Górajec – Deputy Director of the Museum of King Jan’s III Palace at Wilanów
Karolina Grabowicz-Matyjas – Director of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia
Adolf Juzwenko – Director of the Ossolineum – Ossoliński National Institute in Wrocław
Łukasz Kamiński – President of the Paweł Włodkowic Institute
Basil Kerski – Director of the European Solidarity Centre
Beata Kiszel – Director of the Museum in Tarnowskie Góry
Alicja Knast – Director of the National Gallery in Prague
Robert Kostro – Director of the Polish History Museum
Robert Kotowski – Director of the National Museum in Kielce
Paweł Kowal – Expert, the Warsaw Rising Museum
Krzysztof Królikowski – Director of the Museum of the Castle and Military Hospital in Ujazdów
Marek Lasota – Director of the Home Army Museum in Cracow
Sławomir Majcher – Director of the Museum of Sports and Tourism in Warsaw
Karol Makles – The acting Director of the Silesian Museum
Tomasz Mazgajski – Director of the Museum and Institute of Zoology (Polish Academy of Sciences)
Beata Michalec – Deputy Director of the Museum of Independence in Warsaw
Karin Moder – Director of the Gdynia City Museum
Marek Mutor – Director of Zajezdnia - the “Remembrance and Future” Centre in Wrocław
Joanna Mytkowska – Director of the Modern Art Museum in Warsaw
Grzegorz Nowik – Deputy Director of the Józef Piłsudski Museum in Sulejówek
Jan Ołdakowski – Director of the Warsaw Rising Museum
Marianna Otmianowska – Deputy Director of the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw
Sławomir Paszkiet – Director of the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum in Warsaw
Rafał Pazio – Director of 'the Gate to the 1920 Battle of Warsaw' Museum in Ossów
Robert Sadowski – Director of the Army Museum in Białystok
Jacek Siebel – Director of the Museum of the History of Katowice
Tadeusz Sikora – Director of the Kielce Countryside Museum
Dorota Sławińska-Kamasa – Director of The Stefan Woyda Museum of Ancient Mazovian Metallurgy in Pruszków
Agata Sobczak – Director of the Zofia and Wacław Nałkowski Museum in Wołomin
Albert Stankowski – Director of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum
Katarzyna Szczerbińska-Tercjak – Director of the Railway Museum in Silesia – Foundation for the Protection of Industrial Heritage of Silesia
Wojciech Śleszyński – Director of the Sybir Memorial Museum
Paweł Ukielski – Deputy Director of the Warsaw Rising Museum
Zbigniew Wawer – Director of the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw
Marta Wojciechowska – Director of the Wojciech Kętrzyński Museum in Kętrzyn
Hanna Wróblewska – Vice-president of the ICOM Poland
Blanka Wyszyńska-Walczak – President of the Jozef Wilkon ARKA Foundation
Robert Zydel – Director of the National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw
