01:38Poland: Rivlin names Poland as "embodiment of Israel's right to exist" at Jewish museum opening
Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin formally inaugurated the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw on Tuesday, almost a year and a half later after it first opened to the public.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Rivlin said that the state of Israel was "not compensation for the Holocaust" and said that Poland is best embodiment of Israel's right to exist.
Polin, which means in Hebrew 'in here you'll rest', consists of eight galleries, each recounting the history of Polish Jews from a different time period. Highlights of the museum include century-old manuscripts, a vast array of multimedia installations and a scale sized replica of a synagogue.
The Jewish community which once constituted ten percent of Poland (3.3 million Jews) and about 30 percent of the city of Warsaw (350,000 Jews) before World War II, was killed with only between 200,000 to 300,000 surviving the Holocaust, and only an estimated 7,000 left in Poland today.
Private Jewish donors from across the world, alongside Polish donors, the city of Warsaw and the Polish culture ministry together funded the museum and the core exhibition to the tune of over 75 million euros ($95 million).
01:38Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin formally inaugurated the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw on Tuesday, almost a year and a half later after it first opened to the public.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Rivlin said that the state of Israel was "not compensation for the Holocaust" and said that Poland is best embodiment of Israel's right to exist.
Polin, which means in Hebrew 'in here you'll rest', consists of eight galleries, each recounting the history of Polish Jews from a different time period. Highlights of the museum include century-old manuscripts, a vast array of multimedia installations and a scale sized replica of a synagogue.
The Jewish community which once constituted ten percent of Poland (3.3 million Jews) and about 30 percent of the city of Warsaw (350,000 Jews) before World War II, was killed with only between 200,000 to 300,000 surviving the Holocaust, and only an estimated 7,000 left in Poland today.
Private Jewish donors from across the world, alongside Polish donors, the city of Warsaw and the Polish culture ministry together funded the museum and the core exhibition to the tune of over 75 million euros ($95 million).