Creating a Cosmopolitan Past: Local and Transnational Influences on Memory Work in Schindler's Factory, Kraków

Abstract

This article tests the limits of cosmopolitan memory. It spotlights a unique case study, the permanent exhibition in Schindler’s Factory in Kraków, shaped by a group of local curators and politicians, as well as representatives of foreign memorial institutions and supranational NGOs. The thrust to create a cosmopolitan narrative came from Polish curators, but their vision was curbed by both a local politician and the head of a global NGO. The version of cosmopolitanism offered in Kraków engaged with contemporary Polish problems. However, it ignored Polish anti-Semitism and perpetration. The article reveals how in practice the cosmopolitan message is shaped, what propels it forward and what limits its horizons.