Museum of the History of Polish Jews Opens

POLIN © Jacek Kadaj | Dreamstime

Warsaw unveiled a new piece of history at the end of October, with the opening of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Tad Taube, a major benefactor of the museum, was born in Krakow in 1931 and escaped with his family to the United States in 1939; he has worked tirelessly to revitalize Jewish life in Poland as chairman of Taube Philanthropies, president of the Koret Foundation and honorary Consul for the Republic of Poland in San Francisco.

“Only a few decades ago, the opening of a museum devoted to the past, present and future of Jewish history in Poland would have been impossible,” said Taube. “But today, I returned to my native Poland alongside Polish President Komorowski and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin as Poland made a powerful statement on truth and religious tolerance. The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews is an unprecedented institution that explores a millennium of Poland’s Jewish heritage as Poland today is experiencing a revitalization of Jewish culture which I have been proud to be a part of.”

Museum highlights include the Core Exhibition, a narrative exhibition focused on the thousand-year history of Polish Jews; the Forest gallery artistic installation; an interactive scale model of Krakow and nearby Kazimierz; the Holocaust gallery; and the post-war gallery exploring the legacy of Polish Jewish life today.

The museum stands on the historic site of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising facing the Monument of the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes.