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Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska The Katyn Massacre refers to the mass execution of over 20,000 Polish military officers, police officers, and intellectuals, carried out by the Soviet NKVD in 1940. This atrocity occurred after both Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland in September 1939: Germany attacked from the west on September 1, while the Soviets invaded […]
Publications
By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska On April 13, 1943, the whole world heard about the crime committed by the Soviets. On that day, the Germans announced the discovery of the graves of Polish officers in the forest near Katyn. Three years earlier, in the spring of 1940, nearly 22,000 prisoners of war captured after the Red Army’s […]
Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska On this day, 76 years ago, the Baltic nations endured one of the most harrowing events of the Soviet era. In a calculated attempt to suppress resistance and exert control over the occupied territories, the Soviet Union orchestrated the largest mass deportations in the region. Beginning on March 25, 1949, thousands of individuals-over […]
Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska In the heart of Warsaw, a unique institution is dedicated to saving a forgotten piece of history: neon signs. The Neon Museum is more than just an exhibition space—it’s a tribute to Cold War-era electro-graphic design and an effort to preserve the remnants of the state-driven ‘neonisation’ campaign that once illuminated the […]
Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska Located in the basements of the Ministry of Justice at Al. Ujazdowskie 11 in Warsaw, the Cells of the Security Service (Cele Bezpieki) form an essential part of Poland’s historical narrative, highlighting the oppressive tactics used by the Communist regime in the aftermath of World War II. The exhibition, a branch of the […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska Patarei Prison, located in Tallinn, Estonia, holds a deeply painful place in the history of political repression. Originally built as a fortress in the 19th century, this imposing structure became infamous for its use as a prison by both Nazi and Soviet regimes. In particular, under Soviet occupation, it became a symbol […]
By Patrick van Schie In the Soviet Union, according to official communist doctrine, the dictatorship of the proletariat reigned. However, this dictatorship never actually existed, wrote the dissident Moscow professor Michael Voslensky, who was well-acquainted with the ruling circles of the Soviet Union. The rule of communism certainly meant a dictatorship, but it was the […]
By Jack Twiss Quarles van Ufford. Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Vilnius, Lithuania Some exhibitions leave you behind with more questions than answers. And isn’t that what museums and art are supposed to do. To challenge your preconceptions about something and encourage you to question those. Not necessarily to change your […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska Nestled between the villages of Helmstedt in West Germany and Marienborn in East Germany, Checkpoint Alpha stood as one of the most iconic and critical symbols of the Cold War era. From 1945 to 1990, it served as the primary transit point for travelers crossing the inner German border, connecting West Germany […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska Grzegorz Przemyk (17 May 1964 – 14 May 1983) was an aspiring Polish poet whose untimely death became a powerful symbol of resistance against the Communist regime in Poland. His brutal killing at the hands of the Milicja Obywatelska (Citizens’ Militia) exposed the systemic violence and impunity of the communist authorities during […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska On October 19, 1984, Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, the chaplain of the Warsaw “Solidarity” movement and a human rights defender in the Polish People’s Republic, was brutally murdered by officers of the Security Service. His death shocked Poland and became a symbol of the repression inflicted by the communist regime on both the […]
By Patrick van Schie October 7 is for many a date to remember the horrific attack by the terrorist organization Hamas on random civilians in Israel, who were murdered, raped, and/or kidnapped, with an estimated nearly 100 still being held hostage. In Europe, October 7 also holds a grim significance, albeit much further back in […]
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