The Museum of the Second World War in Poland faces an uncertain future after the country’s Supreme Administrative Court gave permission for the ruling nationalist Law and Justice Party (LJP) to take control of the independent museum.
The museum has recently-completed construction of its US$12.3m (€11.4m, £9.8m) location in Gdansk, designed by Studio Architektoniczne Kwadrat and scheduled to open on 1 February.
However, the LJP – which since coming into power in 2015 has assumed control of the state broadcaster, civil service and the country’s highest court – opposes the museum because of its approach to telling the story of the Second World War.
According to the LJP, the international approach of the museum should not be taken, with the government’s opinion being the museum should change its interpretation, focusing only on Poland’s suffering and military conquests.
The court ruling means the LJP can now legally take control of the museum, which means the government will merge the museum with the yet-to-open Museum of Westerplatte and the War of 1939.
According to Piotr Glinski, Poland’s minister for culture, the merger will see the museum focus on Polish aspects of the Second World War, though the museum’s director, Pawel Machcewicz says that limiting the museum to the defence of Poland would not show the entire of the country’s experience of the war. Because of the court’s decision, Glinski will be able to nominate his own director who can change the museum to fit the government's needs.
“This ruling means that the Museum of the Second World War will be liquidated on the last day of January,” said Machcewicz.
“It means that I will be gone and that the new director can try to change the exhibition or delay the opening.”
Machcewicz also added that any changes to the permanent exhibition would now come with “substantial financial costs” and would create “open scandal”.
The ministry of culture, has denied that the merger is “synonymous” with the dissolution of the museum or that it would “limit the scope of the permanent exhibition”. The ministry added that it moved the date of the merger from December to February “to allow the construction and installation to conclude”.
