This exhibition details the systematic destruction of Polish libraries during World War II, a crucial aspect of Nazi Germany's policy to annihilate Polish culture and identity. It highlights the immense loss of invaluable manuscripts, rare books, and millions of volumes, particularly focusing on the devastation in Warsaw.
The exhibition 'Książkobójstwo – hekatomba polskich bibliotek w czasie II wojny światowej' (Book Killing – the hecatomb of Polish libraries during World War II) meticulously documents the systematic and brutal annihilation of Polish libraries by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. This destruction was an integral part of a deliberate policy aimed at eradicating Polish citizens, especially those of Jewish and Polish nationality, and was driven by Adolf Hitler's doctrine that a nation's existence is tied to the material evidence of its culture. The exhibition underscores that the obliteration of libraries struck at the very heart of Polish culture.
During the war, Poland lost approximately 70% of its library resources, including over 90% of its most valuable collections. This resulted in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of priceless literary monuments, such as medieval illuminated codices, manuscripts by prominent Polish creators, rare incunabula, old prints, and extensive collections of drawings, graphics, musical scores, and maps. The loss of more recent collections, comprising millions of volumes of books and periodicals, is equally staggering. The exhibition specifically highlights the catastrophic losses in Warsaw, the epicenter of pre-war Polish intellectual and cultural life, detailing the destruction of the National Library and collections from the Polish Museum in Rapperswil and the Batignolles Library in Paris, as well as the Krasiński, Zamoyski, and Przeździecki family libraries. It also recounts the destruction of university libraries, school libraries (losing 93% of their collections), and public libraries, with a poignant mention of the fire at the Public Library of the Capital City of Warsaw on January 16, 1945.
