The Pilecki Institute’s has opened an expanded exhibition “Called by Name” at Dom bez Kantów in Warsaw. During a ceremony of the National Day of Remembrance of Poles who rescued Jews under German occupation, the Kazaks family from Brzóza Królewska donated to the Pilecki Institute the medal and diploma “Righteous Among the Nations”, with which their ancestors were honoured.

“Called by name”, a wonderful quote by Zbigniew Herbert, perfectly illustrates what we should talk about. It is our duty to bring back the memory. Thank you very much for the realisation of the ‘Called by name’ project, which is a symbolic tribute to those about whom we know nothing, who are not in the space of our memory”, said Piotr Gliński, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage during the opening of the exhibition.

The exhibition “Called by Name” is a project that presents the history of Poles murdered by the Germans for helping Jews during World War II. For many years, the fate of many of them remained unknown and material traces of their activities were destroyed. Thanks to the ‘Called by name’ programme, it was possible to commemorate 72 people in 30 locations.

The modernisation of the exhibition “Called by name”, presented at Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw, was intended to make the message more attractive to visitors. A multimedia touchscreen was installed in the exhibition space of the Pilecki Institute, allowing the visitors to browse the history of the ‘Called by name’ and to add further commemorations. 

The exhibition has been expanded to include explanations of the occupation terror and penalties for helping Jews, as well as statistics on the realities of life in occupied Poland and Polish and Jewish population losses. Seven lightboxes have also been added with stories of specific Polish families whose representatives were killed for helping Jews.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński