Visit of Claudia Roth, German Minister of State

During the first part of the meeting, Albert Stankowski, Director of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, together with Dr. Katarzyna Person, Deputy Director for Academic and Exhibition Affairs, and Prof. Daniel Blatman, Chief Historian, presented to Minister Roth the project of the Museum’s permanent exhibition, which in its essence recounts the tragic fate of the Jews, by giving voice to the victims, above all those who were overlooked and forgotten after the war.

Afterwards, Director Albert Stankowski showed the Minister around the construction site of our Museum – the Bersohn and Bauman Hospital complex, currently under renovation – which is itself a witness to a painful history, a landmark that survived the occupation and has served generations. The Minister was impressed by the progress of work on the construction of the Museum.

The high point of the visit was a tour of the archaeological excavation site at 18 Miła Street (near the so-called Anielewicz Bunker), which has just been entered in the register of historical monuments. At the site, Dr Paweł Freus introduced the guests to the history of the foundations of two 19th-century cellars unearthed in the summer of 2022, which housed a shelter during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. One of the most important aims of the research carried out there was to restore the memory of the Jewish inhabitants of Warsaw. In turn, Joanna Dudelewicz, Deputy Director for Economic, Organisational and Investment Affairs, presented the delegation with a concept for the development of the site and its preservation for future generations, which met with keen interest from the Minister Roth. As she emphasised: This is a place we should conserve and if Germany could participate in this project it would be an honour for us.

We wish to thank the Minister Claudia Roth for her time, commitment and effort in understanding our efforts to preserve the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.