A visit to the historic town of Gettysburg in the USA

A visit to the historic town of Gettysburg in the USA

On February 19, 2018, a delegation from the Museum of the Second World War traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. There, it met a representative of the Gettysburg Foundation, viewed the Museum of the Civil War and visited the Gettysburg National Cemetery and monuments of the state of Virginia and General Włodzimierz B. Krzyżanowski.

The director of the Museum of the Second World War, Dr. Karol Nawrocki, together with his deputy Katarzyna Julia Olechno, met with Barbara J. Finfrock, vice-president of the Gettysburg Foundation. The topic of discussions was, among others, the specificity of historical monuments, which are the battlefields, and the establishment of scientific exchange and cooperation. The Gettysburg Foundation is a dynamically developing organization whose main task is education. Since 1989, the Foundation has been serving America, protecting the battlefield and commemorating the fallen. It focuses on obtaining and preserving monuments and extending the awareness of visitors about the Civil War.

The representatives of the Museum of the Second World War then visited the Gettysburg Museum of the Civil War. Due to the comprehensive information on the history of the battle and the tour route, this is a place from where it is good to start viewing the battlefield. The exhibition, supplemented with multimedia, tells the story of the conflict, from its causes to the bloody ending. Among the exhibits, the world's largest collection of relics from the Civil War era deserves special attention.

The delegation of the Museum also visited other important places related to the history of the battle of Gettysburg: the monument to the state of Virginia with the monument of General Robert E. Lee (Virginia Memorial), the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, as well as the monument and plaque dedicated to General Włodzimierz Bonawentura Krzyżanowski, a participant in the battle of Gettysburg.

Gettysburg is a historical town where the fate of the Civil War was decided. The decisive battle took place on July 1-3, 1863, and was the biggest battle of the entire conflict. The army of the Confederate States of America, led by General Robert E. Lee, was defeated by the forces of the Union. The losses of both armies exceeded 40 thousand, with the majority being on the side of the Confederates. The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the war between North and South. From that moment on, the balance of power began to shift to the side of the Union.