Diary from the Warsaw Uprising (introduced by Alina Kowalczykowa, edited by Alina Kowalczykowa, Anna Szczepańska)

Abstract

The paper is an annotated transcription of a diary written during the Warsaw Uprising (1 August – 2 October 1944) by Zygmunt Miechowski (1913–44). From 1937, Miechowski was employed at the NMW, where he participated in the production of Adam Chmielowski’s exhibition, a presentation of the sketches of Jan Matejko, and the major showcase Warsaw Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, among other projects. During the Second World War, he contributed to saving cultural heritage and documenting the wreckage of war in Warsaw. In September 1939, he participated in the evacuation of the art collection from the burning Royal Castle. During the Uprising, he was tasked by the Museum’s management with overseeing the “buildings and collections” of the Warsaw Historical Museum (a division of the NMW). On 1 September 1944, he moved through the sewers to Śródmieście, and during that month helped Prof. Jan Zachwatowicz evacuate the documentation of the Warsaw University of Technology’s Faculty of Architecture. Wounded by shrapnel on 24 September, he died the following day at “Sano” Hospital at 13 Lwowska Street. His unique diary is a detailed and at the same time laconic record of Warsaw’s ordeal as well as an extraordinary document of the wartime history of the Museum’s collections.