Letter | Poland’s Warsaw Ghetto Museum should be celebrated, not attacked
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial in Warsaw, Poland Courtesy of Getty
Editor:
On Jan. 27, 2021 G. Paulson, M. Dobkowski and S. Munn “objected,” in these pages, to the work of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, which I direct.
They claimed that as “sons and grandsons of survivors” they should have a right to define the museum’s vision and content. But they overlooked the fact that the Warsaw Ghetto Museum is already overseen by an international board comprised of survivors themselves, as well as “sons and grandsons” of survivors and victims. The curation team at the museum also includes the “sons and grandsons” of victims and survivors. It is inconceivable that the authors of last week’s “objection” should have the exclusive right to determine its content.
It is false to claim that the plans for the museum were drawn up by “Polish experts” “without the advice or consent of the descendants of survivors.” Furthermore, the subject of Jewish survivors after the destruction of the ghetto and the various underground networks will, in fact, be addressed in the museum’s exhibitions. Additionally, the content of the historical narrative is overseen by Professor Daniel Blatman from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a renowned Holocaust historian, assisted by an international team of historians and researchers who are not limited by the fictitious “prism of Polish political agendas.”
I invite the authors of the Forward article to read and study the work and mission of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, in the hope that they will appreciate the serious and sensitive historical work that has been done.
For myself and others deeply involved in the rebuilding of Jewish life in Poland and the preservation of the memory of those who perished during the war, I am saddened that a politically charged and offending article was published by the Forward.
Yours sincerely,
Albert Stankowski
Director of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
