Temporary Exhibition: THE FOREST - Refuge of Victims. Hideout of Crime.

We invite you to the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk
for the temporary exhibition ‘THE FOREST - Refuge of Victims. 
Hideout of Crime’. The aim of the exhibition is to commemorate
the victims on the 85th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II,
with a focus on events that took place in forested areas.

The exhibition explores the history of World War II from the perspective of forest complexes: their significance in the defensive war, as places of refuge for victims, fortresses of partisan resistance, and also as sites of atrocities. The forest is presented as an essay in exhibition form, interdisciplinary in nature, merging history with art and ecology. The forest, a primordial home and natural habitat supporting human life, was tainted by crime during the war. While it helped some to survive, it also conceals the secrets of victims' deaths.

The exhibition is divided into five thematic sections:

1. POLISH CAMPAIGN OF 1939 - with particular emphasis on the beginning of the war on the Westerplatte Peninsula (the battles in the Westerplatte Forest).
2. FOREST/REFUGE - a sanctuary for victims, highlighting the tragedy of the Jewish and Polish populations in the Zamość region.
3. FOREST/FORTRESS - a stronghold of partisan resistance and self-defense (including the Janów Forests, Solska Forest, Tuchola Forest, Vilnius Region, Nowogródek Region, and Volhynia).
4. FOREST/EXTERMINATION - a site of crimes, including the forests of Pomerania, the Katyn Forest, the Siberian taiga, and Nazi German concentration camps hidden in or near forests; and mass burial sites intentionally reforested by the perpetrators.
5. DISRUPTION OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS DUE TO MILITARY ACTIONS.

The central theme of the exhibition’s scenography is the forest as a primordial home, contaminated by war. Alongside historical artifacts, the exhibition will feature artworks such as Wilhelm Sasnal’s painting Shoah/Forest, Mirosław Bałka’s video installation Winterreise: The Pond and Bambi, Magdalena Abakanowicz’s sculpture Androgyne on a trapeze, and five installations (abakan textiles): Red-Brown (1969), Open (1967), Black Garment 8 (1977), Black (1979), Tube (1976), as well as the Herbarium and Berlin-Birkenau projects by Łukasz Surowiec.

A catalog will accompany the exhibition, and a rest area will be provided. Educational, scientific, and artistic activities will be organized around the exhibition.

Temporary exhibition: THE FOREST - Refuge of Victims. Hideout of Crime.  
Dates: August 30th, 2024 - February 28th, 2025  
Location: Temporary Exhibition Hall, Level -3, Museum of the Second World War

Graphic Design: re:design  
Exhibition Design: Dorota Terlecka, Biuro Kreacja

On October 28, 2024, the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk received a distinction for the temporary exhibition "Forest - Shelter of Victims. Hideout of Crime" in the category 'Identification of temporary exhibitions' as part of the 6th Review of the Visible Museum 2024, organized by the National Institute of Museums: