WARSAW UPRISING MUSEUM

TUESDAY 20th SEPTEMBER

  It was an early breakfast as we had a cab ordered for 8.30am to take us to the Warsaw Uprising Museum.  We got there just on time for 9.00am and went up to the Director - Mr Oldakowski - office on the third floor.  There we were joined by an attractive young lady who was from the conservation dept and the Director's deputy.  My father's wartime armband was currently being cleaned and conservation liquids were being applied.  However I was shown photos of the projected display and the letters of authentication signed by my father. 
  The Director raised the problems that the museum had with the Sikorski Institute in London.  They have somewhere around 20 tons of unique film material (on deposit in refridgerated bunkers at the Imperial War Museum), which are gradually deteriorating until the reach the point where they are totally useless.  The Warsaw Museum offered to ship half of these over to Poland, transfer the films to a digital format and then ship the films back to London, all at their own cost.  The Sikorski Museum doesn't apparently have the funds for these transfers.  Whilst initial agreement was reached on the transfer to Poland, the deal was vetoed by a supervisory board who claimed the the Sikorski Institute would get the transfers done.  This seems very unlikely as I do not believe they have the funds.  So instead these irreplaceable films - which in theory are the property of the Polish Government - are being left to rot away. Peter and I both promised to do what we could to exert influence on the Institute to ship the films to Poland.  Sadly Mr Dembinski whom I've known since I was a small boy and who was the Director of the Institute and a member of the 9th Uhlan Regiment (my father's pre-war regiment), has passed away.  Anyway I shall have to see what I can do.
  I was presented with a weighty tome, a book of previously unseen and unpublished photos of Warsaw under German occupation.  The official announcement about the acquisition will be made next Tuesday and I was asked if I wanted to invited anybody to it.  The Press and some Home Army soldiers will be invited,  I named Jerzy Wolanski and the Cybulskis.
  We caught a tram to Arkadia where we met Agnieszka and after a coffee and cake at Blikle, we went went to Marks & Sparks where we purchased some curry sauces and a white wine that was reduced by 20% to £2.10.  We drank it that night, and it was so good we're thinking of going back and buying every bottle on the shelves!