The Warsaw Uprising Museum (named Warsaw Rising Museum, polski. Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego), located in the Wola district of Warsaw, Poland, is a museum dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The institution of the Museum was established in 1983, but no construction work took place for many years, and the museum finally opened on July 31, 2004, marking the 60th anniversary of the Uprising.
The Museum sponsors research into the history of the Uprising,
and the history and possessions of the Polish Underground State. It
collects and maintains hundreds of artifacts, ranging from weapons
used by the insurgents to love letters, in order to present a full
picture of the people involved. The Museum's stated goals include
the creation of an archive of historical information on the
Uprising and the recording of the stories and memories of the still
living Uprising participants. Its director is Jan Ołdakowski, with
historian Dariusz Gawin from the Polish Academy of Sciences as his
deputy.
The museum is a member organisation of the Platform of European
Memory and Conscience.
Exhibitions
The museum covers all aspects of the Warsaw Uprising. There are
many exhibits over several floors, containing photographs, audio
and video, interactive displays, artifacts, written accounts and
other testimonies of how life was during the German occupation of
Warsaw, the uprising and its aftermath. There are displays
dedicated to each district of Warsaw and many informative leaflets
and flyers which visitors can take away for free (text is in Polish
and English), including 63 calendar pages covering the dates from
1st August 1944 to 2nd October 1944 - each containing a summary of
the most important events that took place on that particular day of
the uprising. Some of the many sections and exhibits include:
- The "little insurgent" room: dedicated to the youngest
insurgents and children's experience of the uprising. The room
includes a replica of the "little insurgent" monument and a
colourised photograph of Róża Maria Goździewska, a young girl who
was known as "the little nurse".
- Kino Palladium: a small cinema showing a continuous stream of
original footage taken by insurgent filmographers in 1944, which
was used to produce newsreels that were shown in Warsaw's Palladium
cinema during the uprising.
- Sewer replicas: one on the mezzanine floor and another in the
basement - a chance to experience the practice of using the sewers
to move through German-held territory (minus the dirt).
- Insurgent hospital: help for the wounded during the
uprising.
- Hangar: a hall containing a full-size B-24 Liberator.
- Observation Tower: panoramic views of Warsaw from the top of
the building.
- Print shop: a room containing original typewriters and printing
equipment used for producing underground newspapers during the
German occupation.
- City Of Ruins: a short 3D movie of the ruins of Warsaw taken
from the air in 1945.
- Nazi section: the horrors of the German occupation and the
atrocities committed by the Germans and their collaborators during
the uprising.
- Communist section: the Soviet takeover of Poland, Stalin's
puppet government, lack of help for the uprising and the fate of
the Polish resistance in post-war communist Poland.
Other
Highlights
- A 1940s style cafe
- Freedom park: over 30 posters featuring colourised photographs
taken during the uprising
- Freedom park: a replica of the Kubuś armoured car, manufactured
by the insurgents of the Powiśle district of Warsaw during the
uprising
- Freedom park: remnants of a statue of Józef Poniatowski that
was blown up by the Germans after the uprising
- Freedom park: street art inspired by the Warsaw Uprising
- A memorial wall with
thousands of names of the fallen and the "Monter bell"
- A wall, known as the heart of the museum, with sounds of battle
and heart beats emanating from it
- Two souvenir shops (one inside the museum and one in the ticket
office).
Gallery
See also
- Warsaw Uprising
- Home Army
- Operation Tempest
- Warsaw Uprising Monument
- Little Insurgent Monument
- Cultural representations of the Warsaw Uprising
References
Шаблон:Reflist
Шаблон:Cite
book
External
links
Шаблон:Commons
category
