Conference devoted to the reopening of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk

Conference devoted to the reopening of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk has ended. Its date was not accidental. Today marks the 119th anniversary of the birth of Cavalry Captain Witold Pilecki, Polish WWII hero. The meeting with journalists allowed firstly to sum up the project #M2WSwirtualnie [English: #WW2Mvirtually], which had been carried out for the last two months, and secondly to present new rules for visitors.

Media representatives were greeted by Karol Nawrocki PhD, Director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk:

“Today, we’re paying tribute to Cavalry Captain Witold Pilecki, who would have been celebrating his 119th birthday today and whose statue is located right in front of our Museum. There could be no better day to reopen the Museum of the Second World War in the times of pandemic - naturally following all the safety rules. Our Museum is ready to welcome guests and we haven’t wasted these two months. We decided to move all our educational activities, our whole mission to social media, to the Internet for that period of time. Effects of the #M2WSwirtualnie project exceeded all our expectations”.

Then, the campaign was summed up by Magdalena Hajduk, Manager of the Communication and Promotion Department.

“#M2WSwirtualnie project was in fact created to continue the statutory mission of the Museum, i.e. nurturing Polish history. In these difficult, for all of us, times of pandemic, we decided to shift the entire strategy of communication and promotion of the Museum of the Second World War to the Internet. To that end, we used the latest techniques of targeting the communication messages in social media and we were thus able to reach people, who hadn’t been interested in history at all before. When we look at the results of the campaign - 13,000,000 views, 8,000 new users, out of whom 70 per cent hadn’t been interested in history previously - we hope that these people will now visit our Museum not virtually, but within our project #M2WSbezpiecznie” [English: #MWW2safely]. 

Waldemar Szulc, Manager of the Security Department, presented the new rules for visitors:

“Museum of the Second World War is already open to our visitors. In order for it to be possible, we had to undertake special measures to make the visits safe for our guests, and also for our employees who are performing their tasks. [...] All these orders, bans, restrictions have one purpose: safety of our guests, safety of our employees. I’m convinced the Museum is now safe”.

RULES OF SAFE VISITS TO THE MUSEUM OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN GDAŃSK:

•    obligatory hand disinfection
•    taking temperature randomly 
•    maintaining a 2-metre distance between visitors (with exceptions)
•    obligation to cover mouth and nose
•    it is recommended to use disposable gloves 
•    cloak-room, Cinema and the New Technologies Zone are closed until revoked
•    it is recommended to leave clothes in self-service lockers
•    it is recommended to use the stairs
•    only individual visits are possible, group visits and visits with guides are cancelled
•    no use of audioguides is in force until cancellation
•    it is recommended to purchase tickets online:https://bilety.muzeum1939.pl/
•    cashless payments are encouraged

Details can be found in the ordinance of the Director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk on special security measures in the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk due to COVID-19 pandemic. SEE DOCUMENT