DSH ON TOUR | “Warszawa od nowa” in Berlin

On Tuesday, 24 March, a new exhibition opened at the Berlin branch of the Instytut Pileckiego, which was packed to capacity. Guests included representatives of the media, museums, think tanks and the world of politics, among them CDU member of parliament Roderich Kiesewetter. The exhibition is a slightly altered version of the display “Warszawa od nowa. Fotografie reporterskie 1945–1949”, currently shown at Dom Spotkań z Historią. During the opening, speeches were given by the head of the Berlin branch of the Instytut Pileckiego, Hanna Radziejowska, the exhibition curators Anna Brzezińska and Katarzyna Madoń-Mitzner, and the Polish ambassador in Berlin, Jan Tombiński, chargé d’affaires ad interim.

The exhibition presents a selection of several dozen photographs of postwar Warsaw from the second half of the 1940s. Against the backdrop of almost total destruction, the photographs form a collective portrait of Warsaw’s residents rebuilding their city and their lives. Thanks to the images of young photojournalists, we observe Warsaw’s rebirth up close and feel its energy. The photographs were taken by young reporters associated with photo agencies that operated just after the war, among them Jerzy Baranowski, Stanisław Dąbrowiecki, Wojciech Kondracki, Jan Tymiński, Stanisław Urbanowicz and Zdzisław Wdowiński, as well as film cameramen Wiktor Janik and Karol Szczeciński. The Berlin presentation was prepared by the Instytut Pileckiego in cooperation with Dom Spotkań z Historią and the Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa.

“Warsaw is a city with a special history, a history of struggle for freedom, but also a history of reconstruction. Perhaps everyone speaks like this about their own city, but for us, Warsaw’s residents, it has a unique meaning. We love Warsaw and always return to it, even when it is destroyed and only ruins remain. This is exactly what this exhibition is about. Not only about ruins and destruction, but above all about the spirit of Warsaw and the strength that allows one to rise after a catastrophe and start anew” said Hanna Radziejowska, head of the Berlin branch of the Instytut Pileckiego.

“This history does not belong only to the past” she stressed, referring to current events. “Looking today at what Russia is doing to Ukraine, at the successive attacks, including the recent drone strikes on Lviv and mass bombardments, we can clearly see how much Warsaw’s experience remains relevant. The fates of these cities are connected. Just as Warsaw once did, Ukraine today must fight its own battle for freedom and democracy.” No other capital in Europe suffered destruction as extensive as Warsaw’s. In the left-bank part of the city, urban fabric was almost completely annihilated. About 84 percent of buildings were lost, including as many as 90 percent of industrial and historic structures and nearly three quarters of residential buildings.

“Photography is the most important tool for telling what happened” said Katarzyna Madoń-Mitzner. As she pointed out, around 30 thousand photographs from this period have survived and have already been digitized, although it is known that at least 18 million were taken. “The Polska Agencja Prasowa therefore still has a huge amount of work to do” she added. Madoń-Mitzner noted that the photographs on display are remarkable, but are also accompanied by a certain sadness. “It is also a story about Poland cut off behind the Iron Curtain” she noted. That is precisely why they did not, at the time, enter the global canon of photography documenting the destruction of the Second World War.

As she added, many similar photographs remained unknown for years. “Such images were not in the archives. They fell victim to censorship. This is how the communist dictatorship worked.” She also stressed that the exhibition does not focus solely on the reconstruction of the city. “This is not only an exhibition about the rebuilding of Warsaw, but about the work of people.”

“The photographers simply walked through the city, documenting places, people and children, capturing life as it was” said in turn the second curator, Anna Brzezińska. As she pointed out, when the Soviets entered Warsaw, only about 900 people hiding were found among the ruins…