On behalf of the Friends of POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, communal organizations, Jewish milieus and the donors whom we represent, we wish to appeal to the POLIN Museum co-founders to promptly tackle the crisis caused by the fact that the Museum director has not yet been appointed.
POLIN Museum cannot remain in the state of limbo, without a director appointed for a proper term who could successfully continue to fulfil the mission of the institution that is known for its precious contribution to Polish-Jewish dialogue and mutual understanding, and to the positive image of Poland across the globe.
Professor Dariusz Stola was the best candidate for the post of POLIN Museum director—in May 2019, he convincingly won the competition launched by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.
Today we have reached a stalemate, for Professor Stola’s candidature has not been met with the acceptance of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. This stance was officially confirmed by Professor Piotr Gliński at a meeting with the representatives of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage on 7 February 2020.
It is indeed difficult to understand and accept the rationale behind the current situation. Failure to appoint Professor Stola for the post is perceived as a fiasco by all the people who has POLIN Museum’s best interest at heart.
In response to the ensuing circumstances, Professor Stola expressed his willingness to support an altogether different solution which might gain the acceptance of all the POLIN Museum co-founders, namely the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute and the Mayor of the City of Warsaw. We truly appreciate this gesture.
In the situation which we deem critical for further functioning of POLIN Museum, appointing another candidate may turn out to be the only solution. However, we are in full agreement that such a candidate should be designated by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute, in close consultation with the Mayor of the City of Warsaw. Thus, we could guarantee that further activity of an institution that is so dear to us will continue smoothly and successfully, as it did under Professor Dariusz Stola’s management.
We expect that a candidate selected that way will gain acceptance of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and the crisis sparked off by failure to appoint POLIN Museum director will finally be resolved. In our opinion, Zygmunt Stępiński, the current Acting Director of POLIN Museum, is an obvious candidate for the post.
Anna Bando, The Polish Association of the Righteous Among Nations
Kamila Dąbrowska, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Magda Dorosz, Hillel Foundation Poland
Joanna Fikus, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Andrzej Folwarczny, Forum for Dialogue
Andrzej Friedman, B’nai B’rith – POLIN Lodge
Konstanty Gebert
Jan Hartman
Zuzanna Hertzberg, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Jan Jagielski, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Tadeusz Jakubowicz, Jewish Community in Cracow
Marian Kalwary, Association of Jewish Combatants and Victims of World War II
Alicja Kobus, Jewish Community in Poznań
Klara Kołodziejska, Association of the Jewish Communities in Poland
Aleksandra Leliwa-Kopystyńska, Association of the Children of the Holocaust
Helise Lieberman, Taube Center
Sergiusz Kowalski, B’nai B’rith – POLIN Lodge
Maciej Kozłowski, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Stanisław Krajewski
Wiktor Markowicz, American Friends of POLIN Museum
Agnieszka Milbrandt, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Jacek Młynarski, Second Generation Association – Descendants of Holocaust Survivors
Alicja Mroczkowska, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Małgorzata Niezabitowska, POLIN Museum Council
Marek Nowakowski, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Johnatan Ornstein, JCC Cracow
Grażyna Pawlak, The Prof. Moses Schorr Foundation
Shana Penn, POLIN Museum Council, Taube Philanthropies
Lesław Piszewski, Jewish Community in Warsaw
Piotr Puchta, The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland
Agata Rakowiecka, Jewish Community Center Warsaw
Sebastian Rejak, AJC Central Europe
Roman Rewald, American Friends of POLIN Museum
Andrzej Rojek, American Friends of POLIN Museum
Zygmunt Rolat, POLIN Museum Council, American Friends of POLIN Museum
Adam Daniel Rotfeld, POLIN Museum Council
Sławomir Różański, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Paula Sawicka, Open Republic Association
Ryszard Schnepf, POLIN Museum Council
Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland
Karina Sokołowska, JDC
Rabbi Shalom Ber Stambler, Chabad-Lubavitch
Paweł Śpiewak, Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
Marcin Święcicki, Polish Committee for support of the POLIN Museum
Jarosław Szczepański, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Tad Taube, Taube Philanthropies
Izabela Teodorkiewicz, Shalom Foundation
Marian Turski, POLIN Museum Council, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Marcin Wodziński, Taube Department of Jewish Studies, University of Wroclaw
Rabbi Stas Wojciechowicz, Synagogue Ec Chaim of the Jewish Community in Warsaw
Krzysztof Zorde
Jolanta Żyndul, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland