Mom, I don’t want war! is a Polish-Ukrainian archival project presented on 14 November 2022 in front of the main building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event inaugurated a week-long series of events to mark Foreign Service Day, which falls on 16 November.

As he thanked General Director of State Archives Paweł Pietrzyk, PhD, Director of the Central Archives of Modern Records Mariusz Olczak, and representatives of the Embassy of Ukraine in Poland for attending the event, Head of the Foreign Service Arkady Rzegocki observed that members of the foreign service have engaged actively in introducing the exhibition to audiences worldwide. He added that the exhibition has been presented at nearly a hundred locations across the globe, including in the European Parliament, the Parliament of the Republic of Austria, the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lidice, or prestigious outdoor spots in various cities. Wherever possible, the displays have been organised in cooperation with Ukrainian diplomatic posts and other Ukrainian partners.

“We have been implementing these activities to express our support for Ukraine and our opposition to Russian barbarism, and by doing so, we have also testified to the inherent activism and efficiency of the Polish foreign service, whose members have taken much effort to bring the exhibition into the spotlight in virtually every corner of the world,” the Head of the Foreign Service added.

In his address, Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasil Zvarich emphasised that “it would have been better after all if children were making drawings about the future rather than war.” He expressed his hope that this would be the case soon. After eight months of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, more than 430 children have died as a result of the hostilities. “The Ukrainian and Polish diplomats stand together on the diplomatic front in their struggle for freedom, peace, upholding international law, and restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” he added.

Thanking the MFA for its support in promoting the exhibition abroad, the general director of State Archives noted that it has become “part of [Poland’s] diplomatic policy.” In his view, the exhibition shows the rich resources and diversity of archival records at the disposal of the State Archives. He said he hopes that “this exhibition would provide the Ukrainian archives with historical material documenting what has happened in Ukraine.”

The exhibition displays shocking drawings by children—the youngest and most vulnerable witnesses of the atrocities of war. It juxtaposes the historical drawings by Polish children dating back to 1946 that illustrate their experiences of World War II with those of Ukrainian children who made them during Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine. Despite being 76 years apart, they clearly reveal that war is a similar tragedy for every child. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to support this important project. Polish missions abroad will ensure that the exhibition is available in many prominent locations in their respective host countries.

 

***

The exhibition as part of the Polish-Ukrainian archive project 1939-45 POLAND/2022 UKRAINE is the result of collaboration between the Central Directorate of State Archives, the Central Archives of Modern Records, the University of Warsaw, the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and the Ukrainian archival project “Mom, I See War.” The exhibition is open until 20 November.

The exhibition is also available online at https://momidontwantwar.eu

 

Łukasz Jasina

MFA Spokesperson

 

Photo: Bartosz Peterman / MFA