Poland in the EU

On 15 August 1920 we solemnly celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw – a culminating point of the Polish-Soviet War (1919-1920) and one of the most decisive events in the history of Poland, Europe, and the world.

The exhibition shows the posters from the Polish-Bolshevik war and photos of General Józef Haller and Major Charles de Gaulle. The later president of France, as a volunteer, supported the defenders of Warsaw.

The Polish Army, thanks to the determination and consistency of its soldiers, and the talent of its chief commanders, saved Europe from being engulfed in war yet again. The losses on the Polish side in the 1919-1920 war with the Bolsheviks were, as for that time, heavy – a hundred thousand dead, including many killed in action, or missing, and twice as much wounded.

Repelling the Bolsheviks’ attack on the Poland’s capital was a landmark moment for reinforcing the independent Poland as well as other, newly established national states in Central Europe. It averted the risk of the collapse of the Versailles system and provided Europe with an opportunity for attempting peaceful international co-existence.

The Battle of Warsaw sends a universal message that we need to counteract dictators and that making sacrifices is effective in protecting freedom.

The exhibition also presents photographs from another important battle, that of London, which 80th anniversary will be celebrated soon - the famous soldiers of the no. 303 Squadron - Jan Zumbach, Mirosław Feric, Zdzisław Henneberg and Witold Łokuciewski. The squadron was one of the most effective units fighting in 1940 to defend the English skies. Moreover, the exhibition quotes, inter alia, the words of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill about the Polish airmen - "never was so much owed by so many to so few ".