Until 24 February 2025, residents of Tsuruga can visit the exhibition “Warsaw. Phoenix from the Ashes” organised by the Warsaw Rising Museum. The Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum is the fourth Japanese institution to host the exhibition, which has previously been presented in Hiroshima, Osaka, and Sapporo.
“Warsaw. Phoenix from the Ashes” at the Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum
The fourth edition of the exhibition “Warsaw. Phoenix from the Ashes” is presented at the Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum. This museum tells the story of Chiune Sugihara, who saved many lives during World War II by issuing transit visas. The port in Tsuruga was the destination for holders of “life visas” – Polish refugees, mostly Jews – in the 1940s. Tsuruga also played a key role as a place of refuge for Polish orphans (children of parents deported to Siberia) in the 1920s. The Port of Humanity is therefore a place which commemorates the history of refugees, as well as the fight for dignity and safety.
The combination of the Port of Humanity Museum’s legacy and the story told in the exhibition “Warsaw. Phoenix from the Ashes” provides an opportunity to reflect on the consequences of war and the value of peace. It is also a way of building a new space for education about history, contemporary challenges, and, above all, cultivating relations between Poland and Japan.
The exhibition, which opened on 3 November 2024, will be available until 24 February 2025. Its organisers are: the Warsaw Rising Museum, the Capital City of Warsaw, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The event is co-organised by the Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum. Cooperation: Polish Institute in Tokyo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
First edition of the exhibition “Warsaw. Phoenix from the Ashes” in Hiroshima, Photo: Polish Institute in Tokyo/Ryo Shimosaka (M-create)
The first Japanese edition of the exhibition about the Warsaw Rising in Hiroshima
The exhibition “Warsaw. Phoenix from the Ashes” was presented for the first time in Japan on 16 November 2023. It was located in the building of the former Bank of Japan branch, one of the few buildings that survived the explosion of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. The similarity of the fates of both cities, ruined as a result of war operations and later rebuilt by their societies, emphasised the supranational nature of the experience of the tragedy of war.
The exhibition “Warsaw. Phoenix from the Ashes” tells the story of 20th-century Warsaw, beginning with its pre-war flourishing and rich cultural and entertainment life, through the occupation and the activities of the Polish Underground State, culminating in the Warsaw Rising. The exhibition presents the memories of the Warsaw Rising participants, exhibits from the Warsaw Rising, such as an insurgent armband, a mailbox of Poczta Polowa (Polish military mail), and important documents, such as kennkarte of Maj. Gen. Tadeusz “Bór” Komorowski. Visitors can also see the film “The City of Ruins” showing Warsaw completely destroyed in 1945. The last part of the exhibition is the story of the rebirth of Warsaw – its post-war reconstruction and the engagement of the entire society.
