In 2008, the Museum of the Second World War was established in Gdańsk, Poland. While presenting the course and character of the greatest cataclysm of the 20th century in a comprehensive way, the Museum places particular emphasis on the fate of individuals, communities, and nations, on the everyday life of civilians and soldiers, as well as on the terror of occupation.
The Museum of the Second World War is one of the biggest cultural investments being undertaken in Europe. It is devoted to the most important event in the history of the 20th century, an event which was not only a terrible tragedy and trauma, but also a time of remarkable heroism and sacrifice. In the name of protecting one’s homeland, freedom, and fundamental values, these events are also relevant today.
Covering about 5,000 square metres, the museum’s permanent exhibition will be one of the largest to be found in history museums in the world. Utilising state-of-the-art methods, it will present the Second World War from the perspective of both big-power politics and, above all, ordinary people’s fates. The exhibition will show the war experiences of Poland and other Central and Eastern European countries in broader European and global contexts.
The architectural project of the museum was selected in an international competition which was won by the Studio Architektoniczne Kwadrat from nearby Gdynia. The characteristic tower of the museum has already reached its final height of 40.51 metres. It is to house, among others, educational rooms, lecture rooms, the library, a restaurant and café offering a view of Gdańsk, which was reconstructed after the war.
Apart from the permanent exhibition, 1,000 square metres will be dedicated to temporary exhibitions. Focusing not only on its collections, the museum will also function as an educational, cultural, and research centre.
“In partnership with Liberation Route Europe, the Museum of the Second World War has the opportunity to co-operate with many European museums and other institutions, whose aim is to promote the knowledge of the war and the 20th century. From the Museum’s point of view, it is very important that by means of this project, we can introduce the Polish perspective of the war, which in many respects differs from the experience of Western Europeans, in the historical memory of the West.”
Professor Paweł Machcewicz, director of the Museum of the Second World War