"They risked their lives..." Exhibition in Vilnius

, 16 November 2016
As part of the 70th anniversary commemorations of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp, an exhibition entitled They risked their lives – Poles who Saved Jews During the Holocaust opened on 27th January 2015, coinciding with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The exhibition, prepared by the Museum POLIN, together with the Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry, will go on display at the Gaon of Vilna Jewish Museum in Vilnius. The event was organised by the Polish Embassy in Lithuania.

The exhibition tells the stories of Poles who, at the risk of their own live and the lives of their families, extended help to persecuted Jews. In contrast with the countries of Western Europe, extending help to Jews carried the death penalty in German-occupied Poland. For their heroism, 6,454 Poles have been honoured by the State of Israel with the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

The exhibition emanated from an exceptional collection of testimonies from the Righteous and from those rescued, collected as part of Museum POLIN’s The Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History project. The Lithuanian language version in Vilnius was prepared in co-operation with the Polish Embassy in Lithuania.

During the exhibition’s opening ceremony, Ambassador Jarosław Czubiński said, “We must be aware that, today, we are who we are through remembering the past. We must remember what happened even if it is painful. We must always fight for the truth.” He also stressed that “those who monitor debate in Poland are aware of our ability to debate painful matters and of our pride in our shared Polish-Jewish past”.

The Chargé d’Affaires of the newly opened Israeli Embassy in Vilnius, Yehuda Gidron, stated that the Righteous Among the Nations should be an inspiration to us and to future generations.

The exhibition opening was accompanied by the screening of the documentary The Liberation of Auschwitz (2005, CHRONOS-MEDIA GmbH in Berlin and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland). The film contains authentic scenes from the concentration camp in 1945.

Emphasising the significance and uniqueness of the film, the Director of Gaon of Vilna Jewish Museum, Markas Zingeris, recalled a story told by his mother about the concentration camp in Stuthof and of the Russian soldiers who saved her life.

Prior to the screening of the film, Sister Michaela Rak shared her story. She is supervisor of the St. Michał Sopoćko hospice in Vilnius. For helping Jews during the War, her mother was sent to the Majdanek concentration camp. Asked by her daughter if she was afraid, she replied, “When someone needs your help, it is not allowed to be afraid”. Sister Michaela stressed that it was this that she wished to share on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

The exhibition will remain open at the Gaon of Vilna Jewish Museum until the end of March.