Warsaw. Exhibition “Real. 80 unique objects from the Warsaw Uprising”

The exhibition “Real. 80 unique objects from the Warsaw Uprising” is a subjective selection of exhibits which, in the opinion of the exhibition's authors, best illustrate the fate of the participants of the August Uprising.

The Warsaw Uprising Museum has collected around 120,000 objects. Choosing just 80 was quite a challenge. “It was an exceptionally difficult task. Each object tells a different story and emotion. We had to limit ourselves to something,” says Adam Jeżewski, co-author and curator of the exhibition. “The objects we selected were assigned to a specific emotion. We based the concept on Plutchik's wheel of emotions,” he explains.

This is a visual tool used in psychology created by the American scientist Robert Plutchik. His theory assumes the existence of basic emotions, universal for everyone because they were developed by evolution. Among them are, among others, joy, fear, anger, and surprise.

The exhibition will present items that were part of the equipment of soldiers fighting in the uprising. – We will see items such as berets, a grenade and a revolver. Such exhibits are rare. When leaving Warsaw, those who survived had to surrender their weapons. This one revolver was preserved and carried in a plaster corset. We also have weapons that were found after the war in a hiding place prepared by the insurgents – enumerates Jeżewski.

Most of the items belonged to civilians. Among them was a camera, marked with a brand that is particularly important for the history of Warsaw.

– This particular camera came to us from a collector from Scandinavia. We know that it took part in the uprising. The case has the inscription Fotoris. It was a very well-known photography studio in Warsaw, which operated for the occupier. But under this official activity, there was a hidden underground cell, headed by Andrzej Honowski – says Dorota Rakowska, co-author and curator of the exhibition.

Officially, Fotoris sold photographic equipment and developed photos for IDs and Kennkartes on behalf of the Germans. The facility also received photographs documenting executions and round-ups. These were copied and smuggled to London.

Another item presented at the exhibition belonged to Senior Sergeant Kornelia Perzanowska “Luna”, a medic from the “Ruczaj” battalion. The decorative, metal powder compact saved her life.

– The powder compact was in the pocket of the nurse's apron while she was helping the wounded. During German shelling, one of the bullets hit the compact. The exhibit has been preserved, but the trace of the deflected bullet is clearly visible – says Rakowska.

After the fighting ended, Luna was taken prisoner by the Germans. She survived the war. She died in 1996 at the age of 75.

In the trenches, on the barricades, under constant fire, among the rubble, the people of Warsaw – insurgents and civilians – tried to lead a relatively normal life. There was time for joy and fun, and even weddings and wedding receptions, of which – as Dorota Rakowska counts – there were about 300 during the uprising.

– Wedding gifts were a very interesting issue. What could you get? For example, soap, time off from work or an additional ration of food – says the curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition will feature two wedding rings made from bullet casings. They belonged to Lieutenant Stanisław Swinarski “Sułtan” from the “Iwo” battalion and Rifleman Cecylia Tomira Pakowska. The couple married on October 3, 1944. The rings were made in a gunsmith's shop at ul. Poznańska 12.

On the wheel of emotions is remorse. Dorota Rakowska admits that from the rich collection of museum collections, only one object can be assigned to this emotion. It is a picture of Our Lady of Lourdes on silk. – During the uprising, one of the German soldiers, when searching in the apartments of insurgents, found the picture in one of them. He liked it, associated it with his family, which was religious. He took it with him and sent it to his mother. The soldier was probably torn by remorse, because many years after the war he gave the picture to the MPW – adds the curator.

The exhibition will also include a symbol of the city reduced to rubble, namely fragments of the Sigismund III Vasa Column, destroyed in early September 1944. “The symbol of Warsaw fell, the king fell. The column was rebuilt only in 1949. One of the conservators who worked on its reconstruction was Leszek Gazy, an employee of the Capital Reconstruction Office. He gave us fragments of the original monument,” says Rakowska.

Among the exhibits are also letters and notes. The director of MPW, Jan Ołdakowski, told us about his favorite element of the exhibition. These are the notes from the uprising by actress Alina Janowska.

The 20-page diary contains handwritten notes by the artist from the first month of the uprising, from August 1 to 23, most likely written down as she went along. It contains descriptions of combat alarms, wake-up calls, night patrols, vigils at the guard post, the fight to capture the PAST building, information on how the insurgents spent their free time in the soldiers' inn or at film screenings at the “Palladium” cinema.

Janowska's notes were discovered among other family memorabilia after her death in 2017. The actress's son donated the diary to the Warsaw Uprising Museum.

– It is a very intimate and personal image of the Warsaw Uprising – emphasizes Jan Ołdakowski.

He notes that Alina Janowska visited the museum many times. – She was a warm person who tried to avoid pathos and turned some of her observations of the past into a kind joke. She tried to have contact with people, especially young ones – recalls Ołdakowski.

Each of the 80 exhibits in the exhibition will be accompanied by a recollection of an insurgent from the MPW oral history archive, as well as a museum description of what happened to a given object and how it was acquired.

– The exhibition is a tribute to our donors. Of the 120,000 objects in the museum, the vast majority were donated to us. These are very emotional objects. Their owners, often at the end of their lives, decided to pass them on to us. We take care of them as best we can – emphasizes Adam Jeżewski.

The exhibition can be viewed from 31 July to early June next year as part of a ticket to the main exhibition of the Warsaw Uprising Museum.