The exhibition “So it is war then…! The Experiences of civilians in 1939”. Photo: Cezary Aszkiełowicz

Opening of the exhibition “So it is war then…! The Experiences of civilians in 1939”

On 19 September 2014, Director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk Prof. dr hab. Paweł Machcewicz and Director of the National Museum in Szczecin Lech Karwowski, opened the temporary exhibition “So it is war then…! The Experiences of civilians in 1939”. The exhibition had been prepared by the Museum of the Second World War and it is organised in the National Museum in Szczecin.

There are more photos from the opening ceremony in the gallery.

The exhibition presents the experiences of civilians during military action in September and October of 1939 and in the first period of German and Soviet occupation until the end of 1939.

It combines a modern visual project located in the exhibition area with traditional forms of exposition and presentation of exhibits. About 100 museum exhibits, documents and photos from the collection of the Museum of the Second World War, many of which have not until now been published, show the tragedy of the civilians who died during air raids on Polish cities and during their flight from the German and Soviet armies that were invading Poland. Moreover, the exhibition talks about Polish state institutions such as the health service, the fire brigade and the police, and it also tells the story of volunteers who in the face of danger supported the operation of state services thus risking their lives.

The exhibition is open until 11 January 2015.