Migracje przymusowe w przekazie muzealnym. Wysiedlenia, przesiedlenia i deportacje w przestrzeni wystawienniczej Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of how to show massive population resettlements during World War II in a museum space, on the example of the main exhibition in the World War II Museum in Gdansk. It attempts to answer the following questions: whether the Museum is a good place for a story about the mass evictions, resettlements and deportations carried out during World War II by two the totalitarian regimes: Nazi and Communist? The authors consider how to present historical narratives concerning eviction, resettlement and deportation by the Third Reich and the Soviet Union in a museum space and to reconcile scientific integrity with the requirements of a modern formula of the Museum. Can one find in a modern museum a place to explain the reasons of the suffering of millions of people through a deepened historical narrative, or whether it should focus only on preserving the memory of the mass displacements and resettlements of the population, dominated by a martyrological narrative? The article deals with such issues as contemporary forms and tasks of museums, the main assumptions of a museum narrative and scenographic exhibition solutions of the World War II Museum in the area of forced migration.