Poland is preparing to evacuate his works of art in the event of a Russian invasion: “I needed a person who worked in the army”
The painting “Battle of Grunwald”, considered one of the masterpieces of Polish art, is hosted at the Warsaw National Museum, photo: Aleksander Kalk / Zuma Press / Profimedia Images
The Ministry of Culture of Poland is preparing plans to transfer the most valuable works of art in the event of a Russian invasion abroad, reports Polskie Radio and The Kyiv Independent.
The plan, which should be completed by the end of the year, is part of a larger security effort initiated by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which includes strengthening the protection on borders and doubling the Polish army, up to 500,000 soldiers.
The initiative on works of art is coordinated by Maciej Matysiak, a former colonel in the army and former deputy of the Polish agency head of military counter -information. Currently, he leads a seizure and crisis department, consisting of 40 people, created within the Ministry of Culture.
“I needed a person who worked in the army, in defense, but also have knowledge about crisis management,” said Polish Minister of Culture, Hanna Wróblewska, in an interview with Financial Times.
She said that an evacuation plan is needed, because the nearly 1,000 museums of Poland can no longer work on a “theoretical notion of security”, as long as Russia continues the war in Ukraine.
Poland will shelter its national treasures
Wróblewska said that his ministry is having discussions with authorities from abroad in connection with the host of art works evacuated from the approximately 160 institutions subordinated to the Polish state. In addition to paintings and sculptures, rare books, as well as musical instruments – and private museums and galleries are also expected to follow the example.
The plan is partially based on the lessons learned from the support given to Ukraine for the relocation of cultural artifacts in Poland, after the large -scale invasion of Russia, from 2022. Some of those Ukrainian works are still protected on the territory of Poland, Minister said.
The collaboration with Ukrainian experts in the field of art meant that “they told us their own story, as it is to work in such a crisis,” said Wróblewska.
And the Baltic states are worried about their works of art
Beyond the logistics aspects, the effort also includes the documentation update, so that the Polish works moved can be followed and recovered in the future. “You have to evacuate all the inventory registers, which then allow you to prove that the work belongs to you,” explains Wróblewska.
The planning of evacuation in case of war was discussed in an informal meeting of the ministers of culture in the European Union, which took place in Warsaw in April. Wróblewska said that the Baltic states, also on NATO's eastern flank, share its government approach to relocation of art works. “They are a little smaller, so everything is easier for them – you don't have to coordinate so many people, so many museums,” says Polish Minister.
However, each museum in Poland must decide which works of art qualify for the category of “priority evacuation”. “It is not possible to evacuate everything,” concluded Wróblewska for FT.
