PNF commemorates "Żegota" Council to Aid JewsPolish National Foundation commemorates "Żegota" Council to Aid Jews

On April 19, 1943, an armed uprising against the Germans broke out in the Warsaw Ghetto. It was a response to the final liquidation of the Jewish quarter by the occupiers. The fight was led by the Jewish Combat Organization, and the Jewish Military Union supported by the Polish Underground State. The Germans brutally suppressed the uprising, by drowning it in blood. On the anniversary of the outbreak of the uprising, we celebrate Holocaust and Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Remembrance Day in Poland.

The Polish National Foundation (PFN), bearing in mind the memory of those who, despite the lack of any chance of success of the uprising, took up arms and those who supported them, has created an exhibition that is a continuation of the PFN’s project dedicated to the phenomenon of the Council to Aid Jews „Żegota”. This project is carried out in cooperation with the Archive of New Files (AAN). The Council to Aid Jews at the Delegation of the Government of the Republic of Poland to the Home Country was the only example in occupied Europe of a government organization devoted solely to helping and saving Jews.

„German occupation law in Poland criminalized aid given to persons of Jewish nationality and imposed the death penalty for those hiding Jews. The Council to Aid Jews „Żegota” conducted five types of aid: legalizing (more than 50,000 baptismal certificates obtained), financial, housing, medical or children’s aid, i.e. aid to Jewish children. In Warsaw the children’s office of Żegota was headed by Irena Sendlerowa (about 2,500 Jewish children rescued). The Polish National Foundation, through the exhibition carried out in cooperation with the Archive of New Files (AAN), wishes to present the heroes of the events, the founders of „Żegota” and the people who risked their lives helping their fellow citizens of Jewish origin. It is a continuation of our efforts to support the conservation of the documents of the Council to Aid Jews from the collections of AAN, to publish the sources in a collective work in English and distribute them to several thousand libraries and to key historians in Western Europe, the USA and Israel. It is our moral obligation to remember and spread the memory of Poles saving their Jewish neighbours and fellow citizens regardless of the danger to their own lives and those of their families”

— this is what Dr. Marcin Zarzecki, Chairman of the Board of the Polish National Foundation, said about PFN’s activities on the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

The exhibition, which opened on April 18, is displayed at the front fence of the Archives of New Files at 1 Hankiewicza Street in Warsaw. Its presentation in public space in an accessible way introduces viewers to basic information about the organization, presents the people who formed it, familiarizes them with the ways in which they helped Jews under German occupation, and, also, allows them to remember the most important information about „Żegota.” In addition, an important part of the exhibition is the presentation of the conservation process of unique documents produced by „Żegota” in the period of its operation. The Polish National Foundation also financed the conservation process of these documents, as well as the English-language version of the publication „Żegota, Documents 1942-1944”, which is a unique set of source materials. The publication is distributed to foreign academic centres.

„The Polish National Foundation is actively involved in educational and awareness projects, cinematographic historical and national productions, and carries out a diverse spectrum of activities in accordance with its statutory objectives and primary mission, which is to maintain Polish collective memory and historical culture. The project involved the translation into English of the book „Żegota, Documents 1942 - 1944,” which is a unique compilation of source materials, most of them never published before. The initiative to publish the original sources in English may become an important impetus for further research on documenting the assistance provided by Poles to the Jewish population during World War II. In addition, we present an open-air exhibition that shows the methods of conservation and preservation of the unique archival documents of „Żegota””

— said vice president of the Polish National Foundation Michal Góras.

The opening of the outdoor exhibition, realized thanks to the cooperation of the Archives of New Records and the Polish National Foundation, was accompanied by a display of archival materials of the Council to Aid Jews „Żegota” at the Delegation of the Polish Government to the Home Country.

In this way, the Polish National Foundation actively participates in defending the good name of Poles, who constitute the most numerous group of recipients of the Righteous Among the Nations medal awarded by the Yad Vashem Institute for help given to Jews during World War II.

The events presenting the process of securing and preserving unique archival documents relating to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and their exhibition are part of the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Tłum. K.J.