A wish to be remembered
Reviews Polin: The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, in Warsaw, the museum's aim is not so much to document the history of Polish Jews, but to commemorate the thousand years of Jewish history on Polish lands. It exhibits few original artefacts - which is itself a consequence and symbol of t...
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| Published in: | TLS, the Times Literary Supplement the Times Literary Supplement, 2014-11 (5825), p.17-18 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Reviews Polin: The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, in Warsaw, the museum's aim is not so much to document the history of Polish Jews, but to commemorate the thousand years of Jewish history on Polish lands. It exhibits few original artefacts - which is itself a consequence and symbol of the Shoah - but the museum has found clever ways of dealing with this absence. In line with current museum trends, the permanent exhibition offers a narrative through text, maps and reproductions on walls and screens. The textual narrative of the early galleries is meant to emerge solely through quotations from sources, which are offered in their original language and in Polish and English translation. Although the exhibition is very dense there is a clear path through the centuries, a few iconic objects and highly visible themes, it is right that any single visit should provide only a snapshot of a thousand years of Jewish history in Poland. One of the main challenges in creating a museum of Jewish life in Poland is to judge how much to say about non-Jewish citizens of Poland and, given the Shoah, about anti-Semitism throughout Poland's thousand-year history. (Quotes from original text) |
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| ISSN: | 0307-661X 2517-7729 |