“One in three” – curatorial tour of the exhibition

The curatorial tour was part of the events related to the 17th Singer’s Warsaw Festival organised by the Shalom Foundation. The exhibition, which has been staged at Grzybowski Square since 20th July, was opened on the Internet on 15th April. It comprises more than 70 archival photographs with historical commentaries, presented on 20 boards, which show the normal day in the life of the Warsaw Ghetto.  The displayed reproductions of photographs come from the collections of the most important institutions conducting research on Holocaust. Despite the fact that the vast majority of these photographs were taken for propaganda purposes, they also document the misery of the Ghetto.

The curator Rafał Kosewski focused on the relations between the photographs presented and the phenomena they document, whereas Jacek Konik (PhD) presented the historical background in an extremely interesting way. He stressed, among other things, that without the heroic participation of women the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising would have been suppressed faster. He also pointed out that we should always bear in mind the feelings of the people who were imprisoned in the Ghetto when analysing the successive stages of its existence.  They did not have the historical knowledge we have today.

Apart from the scenes from everyday Ghetto life, the “Every third of us” exhibition presents major historical events such as, for example,  the so-called Grossaktion Warsaw and the Uprising of 1943.  It also discusses various examples of social and economic life, from the organisation of home committees or charitable institutions to smuggling – an important element of the Ghetto economy.

Anna Kilian

Photo Maja Nowak