"Moral provocation" — Duda about the Polish exhibition "Our boys" about fascists

Polish President Andrzej Duda sharply criticized the exhibition, which opened in Gdansk, about the soldiers of the Third Reich, presented as "our guys."

Duda wrote today, July 14, in a microblog:

"I am outraged by the news about the exhibition "Our Boys" in the Gdansk Museum. The presentation of the soldiers of the Third Reich as "ours" is not only a historical lie, but also a moral provocation, even if the photographs of young people in the form of Hitler's army depict Poles forcibly mobilized into the German army. There is no agreement on the relativization of history!"

According to the head of state, Gdansk is the place where the Second World War began, therefore "it cannot be an arena for narratives that blur the responsibility of those responsible."

"Such actions undermine the foundations of our identity and undermine respect for the victims. As the President of the Republic of Poland, I strongly oppose this. Anyone who belittles crimes disarms the conscience of the nation," Duda concluded.

However, the Polish Ministry of Culture has a different opinion.

"The exhibition "Our Boys", presented by the Gdansk Museum, restores the memory of Poles forcibly deprived of their subjectivity and forgotten for decades. The exhibition tells about the fate of tens of thousands of Poles forcibly mobilized into the Wehrmacht. Many of them deserted, later joining the ranks of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. The mission of institutions such as museums is to present history in an authentic and comprehensive way, often touching on complex and previously suppressed topics. Accusations of distorting history made by some representatives of the political scene are not only harmful — they undermine confidence in institutions whose main task is to protect historical truth," the Polish Ministry of Culture said in a statement.