Chełm. Museum of Remembrance of the Victims of the Volhynian Massacre. The Ministry terminated the contract. The authorities go to court

“Chełm is inextricably linked with the Volhynian Polesie. It is the gateway to Volhynia and was one of the first places of refuge. The City of the Rescuer. The families of the victims live here, there are symbols at every step. That's why we are fighting for it,” Jakub Banaszek wrote on his Facebook profile, president of Chełm.

He informed that he had filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Culture. It is about the lack of financing for the construction of a new cultural institution – the Museum of Remembrance of the Victims of the Volhynian Massacre and the Center for Truth and Reconciliation. President Lech Kaczyński.

The case became famous in the fall of 2023. The then PO MP (and today's MEP) Michał Szczerba talked in front of our camera about “PiS's last money grab.” However, the KO MP Marcin Kierwiński he said it was one big theft.

The case dates back to July 2020, when the then Minister of State Assets (he was then an MP elected from the Chełm district) Jacek Sasin signed a cooperation agreement with President Banaszek (one of the few mayors of larger cities supported by PiS, in 2018 he ran from the party's lists, and in 2024 – from his own committee – editor's note). The President of the Republic of Poland also sent a letter of support for the initiative Andrzej Duda.

In November 2022, thanks to a subsidy of approximately PLN 4 million from the reserve of the Prime Minister (and approximately PLN 1 million from the city budget), the Chełm local government purchased a complex of former tsarist buildings at ul. from a private entrepreneur. Hrubieszowska 102. This is where the museum was supposed to be built.

On October 10, 2023 (i.e. a few days before the parliamentary elections), the then Minister of Culture Piotr Gliński signed a letter of intent with President Banaszek regarding the joint operation of the museum.

On November 27, 2023, on the last day of her term of office, Minister Gliński signed an agreement to finance the institution. The government was to provide PLN 180 million and the local government PLN 20 million.

As Damian Zieliński (spokesman for the president of Chełm) informed us then, in accordance with the agreement, in the years 2024-2027 the Ministry of Culture and the local government were to provide an amount of no less than PLN 181 million for investment expenditure, of which the government was to provide a minimum of PLN 162.9 million .

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However, in the following years, for the statutory activities of the museum, both entities were to provide: in 2024-26 – the city – PLN 100,000. PLN, ministry – 900 thousand. PLN per year; in 2027 – PLN 1 million each; and from 2028 – each PLN 2 million per year.

However, before the contract was signed, a stormy city council session was held during which the councilors were supposed to reserve the necessary money. During the meeting, there was a protest by students and parents of a public school that has had its headquarters in one of the buildings that are to be used as a museum for over 10 years (it has been operating in the city for over 30 years).

– If this school closes now, we will simply have no choice but to send our son to a school with 35 students each. This is not acceptable for every child, one of the protesting parents told our reporter.

It was decided that the school, pursuant to an agreement with the city authorities, could operate here until the end of June 2024. However, the councilors agreed to reserve money for the needs of the museum.

At the beginning of 2024, after the change of government in Poland, the then Minister of Culture, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, terminated the contract signed by Piotr Gliński with the president of Chełm.

– We decided that the termination of this contract is ineffective and has no legal effects because there are no real grounds for doing so – says Damian Zieliński, spokesman for the president of Chełm.

President Banaszek reminded on Facebook that the creation of the museum began in 2020.

“(…) purchase of real estate, obtaining funds, concept, conservator of monuments, establishment of the institution and many letters and arrangements. There is extensive evidence for all this, which was submitted together with the lawsuit to the court,” we read in the post.

He also mentioned that before the local elections, he sent a letter to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and the Speaker of the Sejm, in which he declared that if the government kept the agreement signed by Piotr Gliński, he would not run for re-election.

“This is the strongest declaration and thing I could have done. Proof that I cared about creating this place and there was no money being siphoned off in the background. Was there an answer? No. Because it wasn't about anyone believing in a money grab and PiS jobs,” the president writes on Facebook.

The museum is now an institution within an organization. Natalia Jędruszczak, director of the Chełm Land Museum, was appointed.

– There are also four employees, and the team occupies one of the administration buildings of the entire complex. Currently, work is being carried out to prepare the first publication and create the first exhibition, which will be presented in the museum facilities. For this purpose, the unit is conducting talks, among others: with scientists and researchers dealing with Volhynia. The councilors, following a request from the city president, allocated PLN 100,000 this year for the museum's current activities. PLN – informs Damian Zieliński.

When we ask what will happen if the city loses in court and fails to obtain government funding, he says that the local authorities are optimistic and hope that the court will accept their arguments.

– The fact that big politics got involved is not our fault. It all started in 2020, and only the finalization of the contract coincided with the end of the term of office of the then Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Piotr Gliński. The whole thing, which can be checked very easily and which we can prove in court, was a long-term and step-by-step process, he notes.

Parents and students attending the mentioned public school are particularly interested in the outcome of the court battle.

– For now, the contract we have with the city is valid until the end of June 2025. We hope that it will be extended for another period. Thanks to this, our school will be able to continue to function, says Joanna Mackiewicz, principal of the First Community Primary School.