A Theatre of History 12 Principles Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews opened its doors to the public in April 2013. The core exhibition on the thousand-year history of Polish Jews opened on 28 October 2014. This essay appeared in Polish in Tygodnik Powszechny 44, 2 November 2014. — Ed. POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews was created from the inside out. Before there was a museum, before there was a building, before there was a collection, there was a plan for the exhibition. The story — the thousand-year history of Polish Jews — came first. All else followed. The museum and the story it tells in the core exhibition will be an agent of transfor- mation. Polish visitors will encounter a history of Poland, but in a way they have never experienced. Jewish visitors will discover a history of what was once the largest Jewish community in the world and a center of the Jewish world — an estimated 70 percent of Jews today, more than 9 million people, are thought to descend from this territory. All visitors will encounter a Poland about which little is known and much is misunderstood, a country that was one of the most

Figure 1. Listening to the testimony of those who left Poland as a result of the antisemitic campaign of March 1968. (Photo by Magdalena Starowieyska and Darek Golik; courtesy of POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw)

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50 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Polish Jews, Warsaw) Starowieyska and Darek Golik; of POLIN Museum courtesy of of the History to Poland at the end of the war to a destroyed world. (Photo by Magdalena Poland before 1939, 90 percent were murdered. About 280,000 Jews returned Figure 2. Entrance to the postwar gallery. Of the 3,300,000 Jews living in lived there. the Jewishpastoftheirowntownsandcities abroad totheirownhistoriesinEurope. They canreconnect peoplelivinginPolandtodayto programs itinspirescanbuildbridgesacrosstherupture. Those bridgescanreconnectJews memorial complex. to thepublicin2013, onehonoredthosewhoperishedbyrememberinghowtheydied of the Warsaw ghetto. UntilPOLINMuseumoftheHistoryPolishJewsopeneditsdoors Warsaw designatedthelocationforfuturemuseum sand yearsofit, tolifeinPoland, theplacewherestorytookplace. In1994, theCityof standably, bytheHolocaust. in 1993, inspiredGraz˙yna Pawlak, DirectorofDevelopment forthe Association oftheJewish and after, byrememberinghowtheylived the MonumenttoGhettoHeroes. W had beenadefiningfeatureofPolanditself. Thathistory munal properties, testifynotonlytoJewishabsencebutalsoavibrantpresencethat than onethousandJewishcemeteries, andthemanyemptysynagoguesotherJewishcom- Heritage of PolishHistory Jews in Warsaw. Her booksincludeDestination Culture:Tourism, Museums, and Studies atNew York University. She isChiefCurator oftheCore Exhibition atPOLINMuseum ofthe Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett isUniversity Professor Emerita andProfessor Emerita ofPerformance Jewish presenceinthispartoftheworld Museum and Tolerance Center inMoscow. Press, boards 2007).She currentlyforthe onadvisory serves Vienna Jewish Museum andthe Jewish Jewish ChildhoodinPoland before theHolocaust (withMayer Kirshenblatt;University ofCalifornia arsaw GhettoHeroes The dedicationoftheUnitedStatesHolocaustMemorialMuseum in While thechasmcreatedbyHolocaustcanneverberepaired, theexhibitionand All themorereasonthatitwasimportanttobringhistoryofPolishJews, allonethou- (University Press, ofCalifornia 1998)and

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in Muranów Today, we canhonorthem, andthosewhocamebefore , Warsaw’s prewarJewishneighborhoodandtheheart [email protected]

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has fadedfromview

at themuseum. —

and tothedescendantsofJewswhoonce They Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of

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it wouldfacetheMonumentto

a thousandyearsofcontinuous The museumcompletesthe sands oftombstonesinmore Today, thehundredsofthou- one ofthemosthomogeneous. one ofthemostdiversewasnow est, andacountrythathadbeen world wasnowoneofthesmall- largest Jewishcommunityinthe lay inruins. What hadbeenthe Union, returnedtoaPolandthat centration camps, ortheSoviet survived, whetherinhiding, con- destroyed withthem. Those who they createdinPolandwas was murdered, andtheworld Jewish populationof3.3million 90 percentofPoland’sprewar being partofthelargersociety. ate adistinctivecivilizationwhile Jewish minoritywasabletocre- modern Europe, aplacewhere diverse andtolerantinearly , largelyovershadowed, under As aresultoftheHolocaust, Washington, DC,

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at - A Theatre of History 51

with about its interior is 16,000 square meters,

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the whole country was already a Holocaust museum. The museum. the whole country was already a Holocaust in a sense,

too, was unprecedented in Poland. too, —

the first such public–private partnership for a cultural enterprise in Poland. the first such public–private partnership this,

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Once the museum was founded and the architect selected, development of the exhibi- Once the museum was founded and the architect selected, The “Masterplan” for the exhibition was given to the architects who participated in 2005 “Masterplan” The Event Communications, a design firm in London that specializes in multimedia narra- a design firm in London that specializes in multimedia Event Communications, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, It was not until 2005 that the 12,000 square meters of usable space, of which about 4,200 square meters are dedicated to the of 12,000 square meters of usable space, core exhibition. who was director of tion moved forward under the inspired leadership of Jerzy Halbersztadt, he asked me to lead the development of the core In 2006, the museum from 2005 until 2011. in the first successful international competition for a public building in Poland. The winner, The winner, in the first successful international competition for a public building in Poland. effectively accommodates the core exhibition and delivered a building that Rainer Mahlamäki, reflec- transparency, communicates the mission of the museum by offering a space of light, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews is one of the largest muse- and openness. tion, ums dedicated to Jewish history in Europe According to the agreement, the public partners were to pay for the building and oversee its the public partners were to pay for the building and According to the agreement, the exhibition and raise would produce Association, the while the private partner, construction, the money for it Historical Institute of Poland at the time, to propose an exhibition and then a museum that to propose an exhibition and then a museum Historical Institute of Poland at the time, The last thing that Poland needed was of Polish Jews. would present the thousand-year history a Holocaust museum Figure 3. View of POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews from the side of the Monument to the the to Monument the of side the from Jews Historythe of Polish of Museum POLIN of View 3. Figure of Kryński; courtesy Museum POLIN of Wojciech by Deportation. (Photo Great the showing Heroes Ghetto Warsaw) Jews, Historythe Polish of Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland inaugurated the museum project in Association of the Jewish Historical Institute the team and Jerzy Halbersztadt as project director. as chair of Weinberg with Jeshajahu 1996, on the worked with a team of historians in Poland between 2000 and 2004 tive exhibitions, “Outline of the Historical on the “Masterplan” They based the for the exhibition. “Masterplan” Polish team had and documents that the images, and the vast database of objects, Program,” developed specifically for the exhibition. to estab- joined together Warsaw and the City of Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, lish the museum Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471 by guest on 26 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471 by guest on 26September 2021

52 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett a historyofPolishJews. period inthehistoryofPolishJewsisonethousandyears years, andforstillotherstheinterwaryears. Ouranswer isalwaysthesame:mostimportant son askingusuallyalreadyknows. ForsomeitistheHolocaust. Forothersitisthepostwar I amoftenasked, “Which isthemostimportantperiod inthehistoryofPolishJews?” The per Principle 1 rate Jewishstory. Instead, we haveconstructedwhatcould be calledanintegralratherthan con- is anintegralpartofthehistory ofPoland The historyofPolishJewsisnot afootnotetoPolishhistory. Rather, thehistoryofPolishJews Principle 2 gallery asawholeisstructuredthematicallyaroundpolitics, culture, dailylife, andgrowingup. above allthematically. Thus, thereisahistorical timelineintheinterwaryearsgallery, butthe exhibition isdividedintoperiods, thehistoricalnarration proceedsnotonlychronologically, but or inmanyotherplaceswheretheyhavelived. ence onPolishsoil. This isnotthestoryofJewsinSpain, England, France, Germany, Austria, United States exhibition, andtogetherwecreatedanacademicteamofscholarsfromPoland, Israel, andthe Museum of Polish of the History Jews, Warsaw) Magdalena Starowieyska and Darek Golik; of POLIN courtesy Jewish street,” that is, what’s doing in the Jewish world. (Photo by takes its name from the Yiddish expression, “What’s doing on the Figure years gallery, 4. The interwar Our approachtothisthousand-yearperiodischronothematic. Inotherwords, whilethe —

their fieldsincludedhistory We thereforeavoidedtreatingPolish historyasa “context” forasepa- On the Jewish Street, which

— , sociology, socialpsychology, literature, anthropol-

and thehistoryofPolandisnot completewithout

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a millenniumofcontinuouspres of tellingit. underpin thestoryandourway ciples is guidedbymetahistoricalprin- tion avoidsamasternarrative, it story betold? While theexhibi- should tellandhowthat What isthestoryexhibition 12 Principles Museum Council. and Marian Turski, chairofthe Historical InstituteofPoland, Association oftheJewish president oftheboard the handsofPiotr Wis´licki, plete realizationwasplacedin the projectthroughtoitscom- and responsibilityforseeing to NizioDesignInternational, from EventCommunications bition, responsibilityshifted time cametofabricatetheexhi- their credit. In2011, whenthe coherence oftheresultisto ning toend. The intellectual on theexhibitionfrombegin- ported them. This teamworked history andculturalstudies, sup- rians, andalsothosetrainedin A curatorialteamofarthisto- ogy, andperformancestudies.

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aey cnet that concepts namely, - - A Theatre of History 53 without

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, a code of Jewish law, to reflect the a code of Jewish law, an Arukh, ˙ Figure 5. Entrance to the Warsaw ghetto section of the Holocaust gallery, showing showing gallery, Holocaust the of section ghetto Warsaw the to Entrance 5. Figure by established Council the Jewish Judenrat, the of head Czerniaków, Adam Emanuel and carryand ghetto the administer to orders; their out Germans the all documented that archive clandestine a Oynegof head Ringelblum, Shabes, visitor the accompany diaries their from Quotations ghetto. Warsaw the of aspects courtesy Golik; Darek and Starowieyska Magdalena by (Photo story. the through Warsaw) Jews, Historythe of Polish of Museum POLIN of - - Nor is a “common history” the same as a history “in common,” “in common,” the same as a history “common history” Nor is a without —

Indeed, we ask Indeed,

This approach is especially powerful in the Holocaust gallery, which we base largely on the which we base largely This approach is especially powerful in the Holocaust gallery, foreshadowing and without back shadowing. what they “forget” visitors to already know about what hap- ask them to We pened later. enter into the very moment of the events as they are unfolding. do this by keeping the hori- We zon in front of the visitor short, just as it was for those in the with each step the past gets longer At the same time, who could not see into the future. period, the visitor takes through the story. ghetto. Warsaw clandestine Oyneg Shabes archive organized by Emanuel Ringelblum in the on Our approach is exceptional in basing the presentation of the Holocaust almost exclusively survi- do not use postwar We documents that were created in the moment and on the spot. will find thousands of survivor testimo- Visitors vor video testimony in the Holocaust gallery. thanks to a partnership with the USC nies on video in POLIN Museum’s Resource Center, Shoah Foundation. as the exhibition demonstrates by providing multiple perspectives on events (are they the same by providing multiple perspectives as the exhibition demonstrates and not only objects agents of history, Jews are Above all, so differently?). events if experienced their fantasies and fears. on which others projected Principle 4 made possible the creation of a of separation and integration that It is precisely the interplay in the words of historian Moshe distinctly Polish,” “categorically Jewish, civilization that was known by the acro- Isserles, in 16th-century Kraków that Rabbi Moses It was Rosman (2012). adapted the Shulh Remu, nym of his name as the distinctly Polish” ically Jewish, are the magnificent wooden synagogues created during the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795). Principle 5 tell the story from the per We spectives of those whose story and we do so in we are telling, the historical present reducing the history of Polish Jews to a history of Polish-Jewish relations (all too often treated of Polish Jews to a history of Polish-Jewish reducing the history as a history of antisemitism). This practices of Polish Jews. with the Remu’s notes, book, continues to guide the lives of A Orthodox Jews to this day. “categor perfect expression of Poland and not were of Poland and that Polish Jews which is a way of saying of Polish Jews, textual history only in Poland. 3 Principle experience as a story which visitors will spectrum of relations, presents a broad The exhibition integration separation and conflict and cooperation, and competition, of coexistence Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471 by guest on 26 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471 by guest on 26September 2021

54 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett of POLIN Museum of Polish of the History Jews, Warsaw) last king of Poland. (Photo by Magdalena Starowieyska and Darek Golik; courtesy Austrian empires and the Kingdom of Prussia. The empty throne the symbolizes of the Polish-Lithuanianpartitioning Commonwealth by the Russian and Figure 6. Entrance showing the result gallery of theto the 19th-century Morgenstern, MarekEdelman, Alina Szapocznikow, andmanyothers Isaac BashevisSinger, Arthur Rubinstein, Bronisław Huberman, JerzyPetersburski, Janusz in theexhibition’shistoricalnarrative phy bution ofJewstothefieldspolitics, medicine, thearts, science, mathematics, andphiloso- important peoplebecausetheyareandshowcaseJewish achievement in collectiveorindividualterms. An apologetichistory wouldorganizetheexhibitionaround set theagendaforwhatwouldbecomeadefensivehistoricalnarration. Rather, ourapproach of coursecorrecttherecord, butnotdefensively. Inotherwords, misconceptionsshouldnot Jews andthehistoryofPolandagainstsuchmistakenideas. A properhistoricalaccountshould stereo We avoidtakingasourstartingpointmisperceptions(whetherantisemiticandphilosemitic Principle 6 reduce theirlivestoaprefigurationofgenocide. more thanacasestudyin(in)tolerance. Itwouldbeadisservicetopreviousgenerations to helpourvisitorsexperiencethisstateofmindbynarratingthestoryinhistorical present. tion,” assooften asserted thousand-year history Holocaust withinahistoryofhate. The logicalendpoint history ofPolishJewspresentedintheexhibition. MostHolocaustexhibitionssituatethe and inthefightagainst antisemitism. debates datingfromthe17thcentury ontheprospectofJewishintegrationandemancipation history ofPolishJewstothe cide. NordoesourtellingofthestorydrivetoHolocaustasinevitableendpointthis In contrast, thehistoryofPolishJewsdoesnotstartwithhateandendgeno- world perse. Whatever the “lessons” oftheHolocaust, thethousand-yearhistoryofPolishJewsoffers This narrativestrategyisessentialtothewayHolocaustfiguresinthousand-year

— types orthestereotypeof

for itsownsake. Apologetic histories, whichwerepopularinthe19thcentury, have theirrootsin . JewsintheSecondPolishRepublicwerenoton “edge ofdestruc- That said, theleadingrolesofkeyindividualsfind theirproperplace

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they didnotseetheHolocaust stories ofgreatindividualsassuch andtotheircontributionsthe “Polish antisemitism”)inordertodefendthehistoryofPolish

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Berek Joselewicz,

— LudwikZamenhof, Julian Tuwim,

the telosofhate coming (Heller[1977]1994). We try of Jewishworthiness, whether starting pointthedemonstration exhibition doesnottakeasits just itsheroesandelites. The history ofallPolishJews, not The historyofPolishJewsisthe Principle 7 debates worthhaving. create anexhibitionworthyof any case. The goalis, rather, to sensus, whichisnotpossiblein exhibition isnottocreatecon- versial. That said, thegoalof arise. All historiesarecontro- est. Controversieswillnodoubt trust ustobeintellectuallyhon- ple ofgoodfaith, andtheymust must trustourvisitorsaspeo- engaging difficultsubjects:we tion tocreateazoneoftrustfor engagement, withtheinten- might betermedconstructive

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without reducingthe

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is genocide.

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the contri

- A Theatre of History 55 . Their . the rise of rabbinical authority and the rise of rabbinical

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exemplified by the great Polish rabbi Moses exemplified by the they will build knowledge incrementally as they move through the story they will build knowledge incrementally

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As for providing basic knowledge about Jewish religion, our visitors are on a “need-to- our visitors are on a religion, As for providing basic knowledge about Jewish There is no normative presentation of Judaism, no trans-historical displays of the Jewish life no trans-historical presentation of Judaism, There is no normative Figure 7. The interactive library in the Paradisus Iudaeorum gallery, featuring the earliest Hebrew and and Hebrew earliest the featuring Iudaeorum gallery, Paradisus the in library interactive The 7. Figure and Starowieyska Magdalena by (Photo Commonwealth. Polish-Lithuanian the in printed books Yiddish Warsaw) Jews, Historythe of Polish of courtesy Museum POLIN of Golik; Darek first encounter with the prohibition of work on the Sabbath is in the medieval gallery, where on the Sabbath is in the medieval gallery, first encounter with the prohibition of work wheel broke on Friday just before sundown. we present a story of Jews on the road whose Isserles. They will encounter the Ba’al Shem Tov and Hasidism, the Gaon of Vilna and the and Vilna the Gaon of and Hasidism, Tov encounter the Ba’al Shem They will Isserles. Street in the 19th century, Tłomackie creation of the Great Synagogue on the modern yeshiva, in the 20th century. Yisroel Agudas party and the religious political know basis” cycle or Jewish holidays, as are common in many Jewish museums. Instead, visitors to the exhi- Instead, as are common in many Jewish museums. cycle or Jewish holidays, not as a separate category life, religious life as an integral part of Jewish bition will experience in Jewish reli- They will discover transformations “Judaism.” or “religion” in a section called history of Polish Jews gious life across the thousand-year Commonwealth, learning in the Polish-Lithuanian Principle 8 Principle should answer Some said the exhibition to beg for definition. questions that seem Keep open the thousand- Forest gallery that begins enter the poetic even before visitors two questions a priori definitions, Rather than providing What is Judaism? Who are the Jews? year journey: to be There are many ways of Polish Jews. in the history visitors to look for answers we ask our continue to be a work and Polish Jews remains an open question, Who is a Polish Jew Jewish. in progress. Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471 by guest on 26 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471 by guest on 26September 2021

56 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett inal languages historic diversityofPoland, which wemakevisiblebypresentingmajorquotationsintheir orig- in harmony, sometimes dissonant. These voicesspeakinmanylanguages. This isasignofthe gist whosentquestionnairestoJewsinPoland1948. Research inthe1930s;andthosesurveyedbySaraHurwic(later, IrenaNowakowska), asociolo- Jews whorespondedtoautobiographycontestsorganizedby the YIVO Institute forJewish Paulina Wengeroff, whorecalledthetransformationofJewishlifein 19thcentury;young Natan Hanover, whorecorded themassacresduringKhmelnytskyuprisingin1648–1649; the wordsofJanZamoyski, whocontractedhisJewishleaseholder JakubNossałowiczin1595; bring thevisitorclosetothosewholivedinplaceandmoment ofthestory. Featuredare son, whichiswhyweleadthenarrationwithquotations fromprimarysources. Ourgoalisto Bring thevisitorfacetowiththosewhosestorywetell. This ishistoryinthefirstper Principle 9 Paradisus Iudaeorum gallery. Commonwealth. in Kraków among others and notonlythevoiceofhistorian, History of PolishHistory Jews, Warsaw) Starowieyska and Darek Golik; of POLIN Museum courtesy of the Jews, leaving only 10,000 Jews in Poland. (Photo by Magdalena antisemitic campaign, which led to the exodus of about 15,000 Figure 8. The installation presenting the 1968 anti-Zionist and In thisway, visitorscome intodirectcontactwithvoicesfromtheperiod

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it wasthefirstHebrewbooktobeprintedforJewsinPolish–Lithuanian

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An interactivepresentationofthisbookisfeaturedina “library” inthe and inHebrew and Latinfontsspecifictothe period.

Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Czech, Polish, Yiddish, German, French, andRussian, butmanyvoices. These voicesformachorus, sometimes n minting in dence thatJewswereinvolved coins withHebrewletters, evi- tation ofbracteates, one-sided medieval gallery, inapresen- Hebrew alphabet, alsointhe visitors willfirstencounterthe gerous proposition. Similarly, on theroadovernightwasadan- wheel andtraveledon?Staying over, andonlythenrepairedthe down, whentheSabbathwas and waiteduntilSaturdaysun- they havestayedontheroad ing ontheSabbath?Or, should violating theprohibitionofrid- est townaftersundownand that meantarrivingatthenear ued alongtheirwayeventhough repaired thewheelandcontin- about thiscase. Shouldtheyhave dence, whichishowweknow ject ofrabbinicalcorrespon- should havedoneisthesub- The questionofwhatthey active station. their ownbracteatesataninter of kashrutprintedin1534 dura, ahandbookonthelaws a presentationoftheSha’arei the lawsofritualpurityfrom Visitors willlearnabout

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visitors can “mint” can visitors

not onevoice - - - A Theatre of History 57 and Figure 9. Visitors in the medieval gallery, which is entirely hand-painted and and hand-painted entirely is which gallery, medieval the in Visitors 9. Figure courtesy of Golik; Darek and Starowieyska Magdalena by (Photo hand-gilded. Warsaw) Jews, Historythe of Polish of Museum POLIN - from dawn to dawn, in the great yeshiva in Volozhin, narrated with quo- Volozhin, in in the great yeshiva from dawn to dawn, we can recover the knowledge of how to build one by actually building it,

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24 hours,

— the most important

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Perhaps the most dramatic examples are the magnificent wooden synagogues, created in Perhaps the most dramatic examples are the magnificent wooden synagogues, Similarly, for the modern yeshiva in the 19th century, there is virtually no visual material, but material, there is virtually no visual for the modern yeshiva in the 19th century, Similarly, that is precisely what we did in Poland. We collaborated with Handshouse Studio, an educa- collaborated with Handshouse Studio, We that is precisely what we did in Poland. Hundreds of volunteers and experts from tional nonprofit organization based in Massachusetts. tations from memoirs of the period. While we can never recover the orig- exist today. none of which the 17th and 18th centuries, something we can do something else, material, in the sense of their original inal synagogues, of great value sources in the medieval period come from rabbis in German lands who responded to ques tions from rabbis who were pass- ing through or living in Poland. These questions often take the form of a story that describes Necessity is the the problem. asked We mother of invention. two of Poland’s most celebrated comic book artists to illustrate these stories in the style of medieval illuminated manuscripts, We both Jewish and Christian. then commissioned specialists in of Polish churches to paint and guild the walls of the the conservation of the painted interiors gallery visitors to the medieval As a result, gallery using traditional materials and techniques. The entire gallery has been will find themselves in a three-dimensional illuminated manuscript. hand-painted and hand-gilded. we created a painted On the basis of those texts, there are vivid memoirs and autobiographies. animation Principle 10 Principle - open narrative in mul to create an without being authoritarian, to be authoritative Our goal is and museums Visiting to the conversation. to add their voices and to invite visitors tiple voices, during and after the that arise The conversations experience. is generally a social exhibitions scholars have written, what we as Our commentary, part of the experience. visit are a critical the quotations from commentary supports That its own panel. its own font and on appears in scenography, iconography, images, helps to fill gaps and connect the texts, primary sources and the story. and sounds that together carry films, documents, objects, Principle 11 if other institu- more objects, If we had the absence of original objects. Materialize history in but for the medi- shown them, we would have to loan us more objects, tions had been willing that Jews in Poland made or we can point to only two objects 600 years, almost eval period, the oldest of which dates Tombstones, tombstones and coins. were involved in manufacturing: and are immovable, from 1203, beauti- no matter how coins, Hebrew ful they are with their and the are tiny, inscriptions, story we must tell is deep and What we do have is intan- wide. materialized gible heritage, in texts Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471 by guest on 26 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471 by guest on 26September 2021

58 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett visit theexhibition. tours, curatorialtours, highlighttours, audio-guides, andproposalsfor variousotherwaysto not ontheothersideofproscenium. That said, themuseumoffersgroup tours, self-guided much likeaplay. They maybesurprisedtofindthemselvesonthestageandin the scenography, to makingtheirwaythroughacontinuousvisualnarrativethat isorganizedinactsandscenes, story. Experiencedmuseum-goersmayexpectamore explicitroadmap. They maynotbeused by trialanderror(ratherthantoreadthemanual), willintuitively findtheirwaythroughthe as thevisitormovesdoesstoryunfold. Younger visitors, whosenaturalinclinationistolearn tion this elementisacenterpiecenotonlyofthe18th-centurygallery, butalsoofthecoreexhibi- created, andbecauseoftheknowledgethatwasrecovered discoveredintheprocess. Today, result isanewkindofobject, onewhosevalueisexponentially greaterbecauseofhowitwas ing theFirst World War, becauseitisthebestdocumentedofallwoodensynagogues. The synagogue thatoncestoodinGwos´dziec. We chosethissynagogue, whichwasdestroyeddur Poland andabroadreconstructedthepaintedceilingtimber-frame roofofthe17th-century Enter atheatreofhistory, astorytoldinfourdimensions Principle 12 POLIN Museum of Polish of the History Jews, Warsaw) traditional tools, materials, and techniques. (Photo by Magdalena Starowieyska and Darek Golik; of courtesy Ukraine reading from the Torah today in of the wooden synagogue that once stood in Gwoździec, scroll is performed) Figure 10. Reconstruction of the painted ceiling, timber-frame roof, and

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indeed,

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a centerpiece of the 18th-century gallery,centerpiece of the 18th-century “The Jewish Town.” The was reconstruction created using ofPOLINMuseumitself.

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time isthefourthdimension. (platform wherebimah (platform the public Only - A Theatre of History 59

MI: Wayne State University Press. Wayne MI: www.biu 10: 361–87. An Internet Journal Studies, JSIJ Jewish Metahistory.” and the New Polish-Jewish .ac.il/js/JSIJ/10-2012/Rosman.pdf. POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews is part of the very history that it presents. It that it presents. of the very history of Polish Jews is part of the History POLIN Museum is an agent in that history, not simply a mirrored reflection of it. Our goal has been to create an Our goal has been to reflection of it. not simply a mirrored in that history, is an agent but to be must be emotional; the experience memorable, be To that is memorable. exhibition to the debates provoked There is no end thought-provoking. it must be worth remembering, Our challenge exhibition. in the core not least the one presented of Polish Jews, by any history arise that will surely including those of debates worth having, an exhibition worthy is to create from the exhibition itself. Rosman, Moshe. 2012. “Categorically Jewish, Distinctly Polish: The Museum of the History of Polish Jews The Museum Polish: Distinctly “Categorically Jewish, 2012. Moshe. Rosman, please visit supplemental materials related to this article, view To http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/suppl/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471. References Detroit, Wars. World Two the between of Poland of Destruction: Jews On the Edge (1977) 1994. Celia S. Heller, Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00471 by guest on 26 September 2021