News

It is time to summarise the first Congress on Prisoners-of-War Memorial Sites. It was held on 15 November in assembly halls of the SWPS University in Warsaw on the theme of ‘heritage and strategies for the future’. Alongside the Museum, the co-organisers of the event were: the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites at USWPS and the ‘League of POW Remembrance’ Network. The event enjoyed the honorary patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Hanna Wróblewska.

The congress was opened by representatives of the organisers - Adam Szpaderski, Professor of SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Dr. Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska, who welcomed the guests and introduced them to the purpose and programme of the congress which is the first initiative of this kind launched by the ‘League of POW Remembrance’ Network. Dr. Marcin Komosa, Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage, and Dr. Wojciech Karczewski, Director of the National Agency for Academic Exchange, joined them in the welcome.

The speakers' presentations were grouped into four thematic panels. The first panel focused on the multidimensional memory of prisoners-of-war. Here, Dr. Renata Kobylarz-Buła, in a gripping way, presented how the Museum transforms the communicative memory of families into cultural one. The second panel was dominated by considerations of the practical and theoretical dimensions of the treatment of POWs, in particular its ethical and legal aspects and observance in the reality of war in Ukraine. In the next part, entitled: ‘POWs in social space - education, pop culture and technological innovations’, spoke, among others, collaborating with the Museum Maciej Żemojcin, who promoted the use of the potential of tools based on AI algorithms (e.g. Verisearch) at memorial sites. The last panel, headed by Dr. Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska, considered the role of global challenges facing POW remembrance. It opened with a presentation by Dr. Piotr Stanek on  comparative analysis of the state of knowledge on Wehrmacht and NKVD camps, and ended with a talk of Professor Tomasz Przerwa from Uwr (University of Wrocław), who addressed the issue of the attractiveness of the POW theme on the example of tourism of historic sites in Lower Silesian fortresses.

Last but not least, the important part of the Congress was a lively discussion among the 13 panellists and the audience (there were also questions asked by those who attended the meeting online). At the very end, the guests learned that the Congress will be held biannually and that the ‘League of POW Remembrance’ Network has been joined by: The Online Memorial and Museum of Prisoners-of-War, the Władysław Golus Regional Museum in Ostrzeszów and The Common Weekly’s Club in Chojnice.

Many thanks to all who attended the event!

The activity, carried out as part of the project, was financed from funds of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Plan - investment A2.5.1. ‘Programme to support the activities of entities from the cultural and creative industries sector to stimulate their development’, and the Self-government of the Opole Province.