Politicians from the Civic Coalition, headed by Donald Tusk, and related with them media, they express their criticism of the planned Museum of the Volynian Sculpture in Chełma and the Lech Kaczyński fact and Reconciliation Centre. Prior to the parliamentary elections, a letter of intent was signed concerning the joint management of the 2 institutions by the city and the Ministry of Culture. Shortly before the failure of power by the Law and Justice (PiS) the financing of investment worth PLN 200 million was approved. The task meets with a protest by parents of social school students whose area is to be the location of both institutions, including a Ukrainian activist.
In May of that year, it was announced that by 2027 the Museum of Memory of the Victims of the Volyn massacre and the Center of fact and Reconciliation of president Lech Kaczyński on the premises of erstwhile Czarski buildings would be established in Chełm. The Town Hall informed about the acquisition of the complex at ul. Hrubieszowska 102 for about PLN 4 million, from a grant from the reserve of the Prime Minister. The city has undertaken to prepare the concept and method documentation, and the Ministry of Culture is to be liable for the remainder of the implementation.
However, the acquired properties were already occupied, as at Hrubieszowska 102 there are schools, including the State School of Music of the first and second degree and the Social Schools Team. president Chełma, Jakub Banaszek, connected with the Law and Justice, and the fact that the city co-financed the investment raised local controversy. A fewer days before the parliamentary elections, the president and Minister of Culture Piotr Gliński signed a letter of intent concerning the joint operation of the Museum and the Centre.
After the election, erstwhile governments The United Right came to an endand, the city council of Chełma decided to co-finance the investment with PLN 20 million, the remaining PLN 180 million was to come from state resources. The case became loud erstwhile politicians of the Civic Coalition, especially from the Civic Platform, criticized the plan. Members of KO, Michał Szczerba and Maciej Lasek, held a conference in the Sejm under the slogan “The last jump of Gliński. 200 million at the Kaczyński Centre in Chełma". Honesty suggested that it was an effort to block funds for another investment in Chełma and announced parliamentary control in the Ministry of Culture.
Gliński in consequence stressed that in Chełma "The establishment of the Volyn Museum and the intent of the agreement to co-host this institution, which the City will manage".
"This is simply a multi-year program to commemorate the victims of a immense tragedy in Volyn [yes in the first – ed.]. You have no respect for memory and holiness” – wrote on X.
Politicians of the Civic Coalition criticized him, accusing him that in any way he was utilizing the Volynian Sculpture Museum as a shield, alternatively of specifically explaining the intent of the Lech Kaczyński Centre.
Media related to the centre-left camp besides paid attention to the topic, focusing on the negative opinions of parents of children attending the endangered social school. They besides cited opinions criticizing the very concept of creating the Volyn Museum. For example, radio TOK FM prof. Adam Puławski, a historian from the Lublin IPN, quoted widely in his relation with Chełm, who clearly does not support the thought of creating specified an institution. He expressed his belief that it could lead to Polish-Ukrainian conflicts, while depreciating the border environments that he believes “lead the monologue” on Volyn. The prof. besides suggested that the usage of the word "genocide" for the Volyn massacre was inappropriate.
In the next stage, controversial prof. Jan Hartman attacked the Volynian Sculpture Museum in an article published in the magazine “Politics”.
"The announcements that in Chełma, in the Volynian Sculpture Museum, will be 1 – under the aegis of PiS and its acolytes – Poles and Ukrainians are pure hypocrisy. This is not about any reconciliation... but about the large “around-party” money and the pleasance of spending it at your discretion” Hartman wrote.
At the same time, protesting parents of children associated with social school expressed concerns about the future of this facility. They highlighted the threat of school closure and reported that the city had identified an alternate building but with prices adapted to the standards of a commercial facility. They expressed hope that the decision could reverse the voivode, although it was noted that it was alternatively a typical of the centre-left government.
It is worth noting that protesting parents, including Anton Kononov, a Ukrainian citizen from Zaporozh, who has been surviving and conducting business activity in Chełma for a long time, were present during the session of the city council. He emphasized that he would not let the school his children attended to to be wound up. Moreover, according to ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’, in the gathering area of the city council The question is, does it make sense to build a museum?
The case again gained media attention erstwhile a fewer days before the establishment and inauguration of the fresh government of the centre-left candidate for Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, publically criticized the creation of the Volynian Sculpture Museum and the Lech Kaczyński Centre in Chełm.
– Only the Ministry of Culture after 15 October distributed almost PLN 458 million, distributing it to its said Tusk. – In Chełma 180 million and in Otwock 100 million for institutions specially appointed to be able to usage this money He said.
In consequence to these statements, president Chełma stressed that the substance had been discussed for respective years, and all decisions were made at the approval of the city council. He besides pointed out that in May of this year the Councillors of the Civic Coalition, present at the session, besides voted in favour of the creation of the Museum and Center. Banaszek announced that together with the representatives of the border groups and families of the victims of the Volhynia massacre he would address the talker of the Sejm Simon Holown with an authoritative invitation to Chełm to present the substance to the Members.
From the information contained in the contract disclosed by media, it follows that the agreement is valid until the end of 2028. It is known that between 2024 and 2026 the city of Chełm is to allocate PLN 100 1000 to the museum, and the Minister of Culture – PLN 900 thousand. In 2027 both parties undertook to hand over a million zlotys, and since 2028 both the city and the Ministry of Culture are to pass on the Museum of the Volhynia Sculpture to 2 million zlotys per year. In addition, in the years 2024-2027, the Minister of Culture is to pass on nearly PLN 163 million in the form of a peculiar grant for investment expenses related to the adaptation of the property for museum purposes and the functioning of the Center of fact and Reconciliation for president Lech Kaczyński. The Museum Council is to be appointed by president Chełm after receiving the Minister's approval. The agreement besides provides for the anticipation of termination in favour of the termination “in peculiarly justified cases”.
This week, “Gazeta Wyborcza” criticised the plan of the museum. In a published article entitled “The Last PiS Project. In Chełma, the Volyn Museum is being built, and children from the best school in the city go to the curb,” the chief of the social school says they must leave their current location by the end of June 2024, but have no another place available.
It is worth recalling that the concept of the creation of the Museum of the Volyn massacre in Chełma was presented on 11 July 2020 by then Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin, on the anniversary of “bloody Sunday” and genocide in Volyn. At the time, the names of both institutions were laborious: the Lech Kaczyński Institute of fact and Reconciliation and the Volyn Museum of Victims. Sasin, on behalf of the government, committed to ‘practical support for implementation’ of the joint venture of the President, government and local authorities.
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Tusk and his politicians and the media are criticizing their plans to build the Volyn massacre museum in Chełma:
