Exhibition
7.03–15.09.2025

"1945. Not the End, Not the Beginning"

On the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, we present an exhibition dedicated to Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust and about their postwar experiences. It is a story about people who tried to rebuild their lives on the ruins of the old world. There were few of them, as 90% of the Polish Jewish community perished at the hands of Nazi perpetrators. Deprived of nearly everything—their nearest and dearest, their community and their home—they faced a dramatic choice: to stay or to leave? There were very few of them—ninety percent of Polish Jews perished in the Holocaust. The exhibition "1945. Not the End, Not the Beginning" shows the postwar reality through the eyes of those who survived.

The end or the beginning?

In the general understanding, World War II ended in 1945. This should have been a time of euphoria—however, for Jewish men and women grappling with loss and desolation, it was above all a moment of decision-making—what next?

Individual stories

The dilemmas and life paths of Polish Jews after the war are explored in the exhibition by tracing the stories of selected individuals. Through personal biographies, we uncover strategies for navigating a new reality—returning home, emigrating, attempting to rebuild the Jewish community, engaging in political activism, or living in hiding. Visitors learn, for example, about the life of a little girl Dora Zoberman, who had lost her closest relatives before the war ended; they find out how teenage Pinchas Bursztyn, found among the dead in a lime pit after the liberation of Auschwitz, managed to survive; or what the journey back to Poland from the USSR was like for the Pertman family.

Who will open the door?

How did people feel when, having returned to their hometowns after traumatic experiences, they discovered that their homes had long been occupied, their belongings taken away, and all traces of their community erased? They recognized matzevot—Jewish tombstones—used to pave the streets; they found repurposed fragments of Torah scrolls in everyday objects. Polish neighbors often greeted the returning Jews with reluctant indifference, hostility, or even violence. Yet, despite it all, they stayed. They believed that their future in Poland was not yet determined and made every effort to rebuild their community.

In the exhibition "1945. Not the End, Not the Beginning," we also learn about the fate of those who chose to leave—a decision made by the overwhelming majority. Between 1944 and 1946, over 200,000 Jews left Poland. They refused to live in what felt like a cemetery, not willing to bear the sense of desolation and the ever-present danger fueled by postwar antisemitism.

Historical testimonies and contemporary art

The difficult reality of Polish Jews after 1945 is illustrated through the exhibition’s iconography—photographs, documents, letters, leaflets in all languages spoken by the Polish-Jewish community after the war (Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, English, Russian) as well as touching personal mementos. 

The open, horizontal arrangement of the exposition encourages contemplation and allows the visitors to draw from the presented exhibits all that the exhibition protagonists experienced on a daily basis—feelings of emptiness, uncertainty, and threat.

The artworks by Marek Cecuła, Alicja Bielawska, Zuzanna Hertzberg, Maria Ka, Włodzimierz Zakrzewski, Wiktor Freifeld complement the historical narrative of the exhibition "1945. Not the End, Not the Beginning," acting as a dialogue with the present. The artists employ various forms of expression, such as ceramics, textiles, singing, sound. Most of the works on display were created especially for this exhibition.

A different perspective

The exhibition confronts what has often been silenced or left on the margins of grand historical narratives—the Jewish perspective on the end of the war. It is a narrative that has not yet been told, presented through the prism of individual life stories.

Let’s listen to these voices. Perhaps we will come closer to answering questions such as: What would have changed if everyone had emigrated? What would Poland look like today if the Jews had stayed?

In view of its subject matter, the exhibition is not recommended for children under 14 years of age.

 

  • Authors of the exhibition concept: Anna Bikont, Kamil Kijek
  • Exhibition curators: Zuzanna Schnepf-Kołacz, Zuzanna Benesz-Goldfinger, Justyna Majewska
  • Exhibition coordinators: Anna Rechentiuk-Tyszka, Kinga Lewandowska-Doleszczak
  • Curatorial cooperation: Dominika Dragan-Alcantara, Kamila Pściuk-Glazer
  • Exhibition design: SENNA Kolektyw (Piotr Jakoweńko, Agata Korba, Sebastian Kucharuk, Natalia Romik)
  • Art installations: Alicja Bielawska, Marek Cecuła, Aleksander Golor-Baszun, Wiktor Freifeld, Zuzanna Hertzberg, Maria Ka, Michał Kupicz, Miłosz Pękala, Roni Schlesinger, Beata Wietrzyńska / In Weave, Włodzimierz Zakrzewski
  • Exhibition production: Ekspos Sp. z o.o.
  • Lighting supervisor: Karolina Gębska
  • Infographics and maps: Anna Światłowska, Paweł Weszpiński
  • Multimedia: Eidotech, Kijek&Adamski, Vision House Productions, Well of Art
  • Manual browsers: Katarzyna Błahuta
  • Head of POLIN Exhibition Department: Joanna Fikus
  • Registrars: Aneta Jasionek (POLIN), Anna Ekielska (ŻIH/JHI)
  • Conservation: Marta Stawińska (POLIN), Maciej Stasiewicz (ŻIH/JHI), Violetta Bachur (ŻIH/JHI)
  • Proofreading of Polish: Joanna Cieślik, Helena Łuczywo, Marta Markowska
  • Translation: Zofia Sochańska, Dominika Gajewska, Aleksandra Jakubczak-Gabay, Aleksandra Król, Matan Shefi
  • Proofreading of English: Lacrosse Language Solutions Sp. z o.o
  • Promotion: Marta Dziewulska, Olga Kaliszewska, Katarzyna Miętus, Julia Sienkiewicz
  • Exhibition key visual and catalog design: Frycz i Wicha
  • Accompanying program coordinator: Marta Sarnowska
  • Consultants: Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, Natalia Aleksiun, Natalia Andrzejewska, Dan Barbur, Łukasz Bertram, Krzysztof Bielawski, Katarzyna Bojarska, Jan Borowicz, Elisabeth Brami-Proweller, Anna Cichopek-Gajraj, Helena Datner, Aneta Dmochowska, Jarosław Dulewicz, David Engel, Barbara Engelking, Marta Frączkiewicz, Alison Gingeras, Jan Tomasz Gross, Atina Grossmann, Mikołaj Grynberg, Stefanie Halpern, Agnieszka Haska, Elżbieta Janicka, Agnieszka Kajczyk, Przemysław Kaniecki, Audrey Kichelewski, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Adam Kopciowski, Ewa Koźmińska-Frejlak, Joanna Król-Komła, Łukasz Krzyżanowski, Marcin Kula, Julian Kwiek, Joanna Nalewajko-Kulikov, Larisa Lempertienė, Jacek Nowakowski, Piotr Osęka, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karolina Panz, Krzysztof Persak, Katarzyna Person, Renata Piątkowska, Marta Prochwicz, Agnieszka Reszka, Natalia Romik, Magdalena Semczyszyn, Matan Shefi, Marcos Silber, Alina Skibińska, Magdalena Smoczyńska, Suzy Snyder, Dariusz Stola, Karolina Szymaniak, Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, Michał Trębacz, Bret Werb, Ewa Wiatr, Milena Wicepolska, Magdalena Wójcik, Maciej Wzorek, Marcin Zaremba

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jewish Jews, in cooperation with the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland and the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, is the organizer of the "1945. Not the End, Not the Beginning" exhibition.

Logos of organizers and partners of 1945. Not the end, not the beginning exhibition.