News

The Folk Culture Museum in Kolbuszowa hosted a gala on 5 May this year, during which the results of the 45th edition of the Sibyl 2024 Competition for the Museum Event of the Year were ceremoniously announced. The Central Museum of Prisoners-of-War was nominated in the "Education" category. The finale of the Contest brought us a great success: we won the main prize for our the educational project ‘Reverberations 1944. From Warsaw to Lamsdorf’.

Distinctions in the same category went to: the Polish History Museum for the project ‘Open yourself to history! Podcasts of the Museum of Polish History. 2024 Edition' and the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography in Łódź for the urban game ‘GRAbież in the Museum. On the wartime fate of museum collections'. These are interesting and well-done educational initiatives, what only enhance our satisfaction at being among the best.

The Sybil 2024 statuette was presented to the Museum Director, Dr. Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska. The awarded project was carried out in the last months of last year and was our most comprehensive undertaking to date in terms of popularising knowledge about the captivity of the Warsaw insurgents in Stalag 344 Lamsdorf. In total, it comprised of 11 tasks of a social and artistic nature, in which we told the story of the insurgent-prisoners in various ways, focusing in particular on their journey from the near to Warsaw town of Ożarów to Lamsdorf. The factual basis of the project was the memoirs of the POWs themselves, in particular those of Barbara ‘Wirta’ Lewandowska, who took the forced journey to the POW camp as a 15-year-old.

The Museum invited professionals to take part in the project, thanks to whom the following were created: the lamentation cantata ‘Reverberations 1944. From Warsaw to Lamsdorf’ (composed by: Szymon Chyliński, libretto by: Leszek Zduń), the radio drama on history “We were here” (film script and directing: Andrzej Celiński, production: VidiFilm), the performance ‘They were here’ (actors of the Ekostudio Theatre), the exhibition ‘The shadow was only left’ (Robert Suchiński and his students from the Public High School of Fine Arts in Opole), presented at the main railway station in Opole, and a series of filmed short stories about uprising mementos from captivity (production: Sławomir Mielnik). In addition, young people had the opportunity to participate in history workshops improving digital competences (cooperation: Maciej Żemojcin).

We would like to thank all persons who contributed to the success of the project! And to the other winners of this year's competition, we offer our heartfelt congratulations.