Tad Taube Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Jakubowski
Coupled with the donation of 20 million zlotys (around 4 million euro) by the Polish businessman Jan Kulczyk, announced earlier this week, the funds allow the Museum to move ahead in the development of its core exhibition.
Addressing a press conference at the site of the Museum, Tad Taube, Chairman of the Taube Foundation and President of the Koret Foundation, said that what can already been seen is something of a miracle.
"From a realistic perspective, if you went back 10 years ago there were not too many people that ever thought that this museum would be here," Taube said, adding that "it took a great deal of courage from the Polish people to build a museum depicting the history of Polish Jews."
Museum as a 'work of art'
During his address, Tad Taube said that "there were many factors, politically and socially, that had to come together to make this possible, not to mention a large amount of money. The building itself is very unique. It has architectural elements that are state-of-the-art and qualify as a work of art."
Born in Poland in 1931, Tad Taube was fortunate to leave a few weeks before the start of World War II.
In the United States, he developed a successful business career and in his philantropic activities have supported a wide range of projects aimed at preserving Jewish heritage in Poland.
The Koret and Taube Foundations have contributed a total of 16 million US dollars to the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
Exhibition centrepiece
The Museum’s core exhibition will consist of eight galleries presenting one thousand years of Jewish life in Poland.
Starting in an evocative forest, a space of legend, imagination, sounds, voices and magic, visitors will be able to walk down a bustling street, stroll past shops, theatres and cafes and glance at posters heralding the political events of the day.
One of the galleries will be devoted to the Holocaust, but unlike the Holocaust Museum in Washington and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the Warsaw Museum will extend the historical narrative beyond the Holocaust.
The Museum is slated to open in the autumn of next year. It was created in 2005 as an independent entity by three parties: the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, the City of Warsaw, and the Polish Ministry of Culture. (mk/jb)
Visualisation of one of the exhibits at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Jakubowski
Front page photo: PAP/Grzegorz Jakubowski
Audio: Michał Kubicki