Poland's universal memory

The conservative daily Rzeczpospolita has published a government concept for a museum dedicated to World War II and endowed with a "universal" character. Pawel Lisicki criticises the initiators of the project for failing to pay due tribute to the suffering of the Polish people: "The problem is that 'universality' can have two meanings. Firstly it can mean 'very widespread', 'generalised' and therefore inevitably abstract. This would mean bringing down the representation to the lowest common denominator. That would be what everyone experienced during the Second World War - Germans, Poles, Russians and Jews alike. ... That would be a time in which all Europeans were victims of two totalitarian regimes. Then there is a second meaning for 'universal': 'Universal' in the sense of being true, profound, original and unrepeatable. In this case one does not look for a formula that gives expression to the experiences of all those involved in the war but strives to draw on one's own experience. ... Therefore it is good that the authors of the project want to give the museum a universal character. Yet they cannot fail to incite doubts by expressly avoiding the depiction of the suffering and glory of Poland's battle."

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