Polish government to take control of major new WWII museum
WARSAW, Poland — A court paved the way Wednesday for Poland’s government to take control of a new World War II museum that has been the focus of a major ideological standoff over how to remember the war.
The conflict has pitted the creators of the Museum of the Second World War — who place Poland’s war experiences in an international context and emphasize the fate of civilian populations — against the nationalistic ruling party, which prefers to focus on Polish suffering and military heroism.
Culture Minister Piotr Glinski sought to take control of the museum last year by merging it with an as-yet unbuilt museum, the Museum of Westerplatte and the War of 1939. Critics of the government described the manoeuvr as a legal trick aimed at pushing out the managers of the original museum.
The attempt was held up for months in the courts, giving director Pawel Machcewicz time to open the World War II museum to the public in March after more than eight years of development. It is located in Gdansk, where Germany fired some of the war’s opening shots against Poland.