In the former branch building of the Bank of Japan in Hiroshima, one of the few buildings that survived the atomic bomb explosion of 6 August 1945, visitors can see the extraordinary exhibition “Warsaw. Phoenix from the ashes”, which tells the story of the 20th century fate of Poland’s capital.

The exhibition, which consists of more than 70 exhibition panels, three display cases with exhibits, two multimedia kiosks and a film screening, shows the fate of Warsaw – a city affected by the cruelty of the Nazi extermination machine. It begins by showing pre-war Warsaw, a flourishing city with a rich cultural and entertainment life.

Subsequent parts of the exhibition show occupied Warsaw: German policy towards the Jewish and Polish populations, street terror and the life of the inhabitants under extremely adverse conditions.

The exhibition also presents Warsaw as the capital of the Polish Underground State – showing its structures of administration, the media, education, the “Żegota” Jewish Aid Council, the army and the actions carried out by the Home Army. The exhibition also features memoirs of participants in the Warsaw Uprising and artefacts from insurgent Warsaw.

The final section of the exhibition shows the reborn capital city – rising from the ruins with the efforts of the whole of society to become the modern metropolis it is today. Organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the exhibition runs until 5 February.

“The exhibition presents Warsaw, which paid a terrible price for its desire for freedom: it was demolished four times during the war. But it rose like a phoenix from the ashes and today is a dynamically developing metropolis – the capital of a free Poland. The exhibition in Hiroshima, a city that also survived its annihilation, is a symbolic event. “The post-war fate of both cities, their reconstruction thanks to great social energy, is a beautiful message of hope for the future”, says the director of the Warsaw Rising Museum, Jan Ołdakowski.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński