THE WARSAW UPRISING MUSEUM

TUESDAY 27th SEPTEMBER

  I have delayed for over a month in completing this day's blog as I was hoping for photos from the occasion at the museum to be forwarded on to me.  However these things move at a snail's pace, and I'm still waiting.  In the meantime I have been diagnosed with angina, had a stent fitted in my vein at Hammersmith Hospital, and had a meeting with Tony Hawksley in town, imbibing a large quantity of red wine, and am now about to head off to Sydney, Australia for a month.

  I called in at Rytm Publishers and picked up a resonable sum of royalties before continuing my journey by tram to the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising.  I arrived good and early so I strolled around and took a few pics of said museum.

  Jerzy Wolanski arrived soon after me - (he is always early for every rendezvous to ensure not being late!).  We chatted for a while Peter and the Cybulskis arrived not long afterwards.  We went into the museum and were met by the Director who took us under his wing.  He took us along to see the new display with my father's armband on display amongst numerous others, and the documents of authentication on the side.

  The guests all soon arrived as did the press along with Waldemar Strzalkowski, returning from convalescing following a knee operation.  There were TV cameras there as well and I presented a copy of my father's book in front of the cameras to Waldemar as the President's representative.  He asked me if I had spoken to the President and I told him I hadn't.  He immediately phoned him up and put him onto me.  Bronek told me to ring him next time I came to Poland so that I could arrange to come and see him.  I promised I would.

  The director kicked of the ceremony, introducing all the guests and recounting the story of how the Museum had acquired the armband.  My father had given it to a Polish collector in Nottingham in 1963 along with a letter of authentication.  The man's son put up the collection for sale this year with a reserve price of £3000 placed on my father's armband.  The Museum offered to pay £5000 outright but this was turned down, and the son determined it would go for auction.  Peter took steps to get other potential bidders to refrain from bidding on this one item, and the Museum got it for the reserve price plus fees which was still considerably less than they had previously offered.  A satisfactory conclusion from our point of view.  Jan Oldakowski, the Director then said,  "And now I will ask Adam Komorowski to say a few words".  This came as a bit of a shock to me as I had nothing prepared,  so I wandered up to the mike thinking a "few words" is the operative statement here,  but I managed to string together a few sentences expressing my delight at the armband finding its rightful home at the Museum, without making a complete pratt of myself.  Photos were then taken - some of which I still await - and we rthen adjourned to the meeting rooms for refreshments.  The whole affair went off most successfully, and I then returned to Peter's to complete my packing for a very early departure the following morning to London.