The Rogatchi Foundation celebrates the 10th anniversary of the POLIN Museum 

The 10th anniversary of a world-famous POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews is an internationally meaningful landmark. The Rogatchi Foundation celebrated the important mile-stone with a special project, Inna Rogatchi’s  Special Essay based on the President’s of the Rogatchi Foundation series of exclusive conversations with the author of the POLIN, the world-famous architect, professor Rainer Mahlamäki, in which they visited the history of that exemplary project, the architect’s visions for it in the context of history of Europe, its meaning today, the museum’s role for today and tomorrow, and hopefully many years ahead, for the forthcoming generations. 

Excerpts: 

A building itself, the building of POLIN very much so too, is a lab. A historical lab, in this case, and a lab of history, at the same time. It does function as both a telescope and a periscope, simultaneously. A building is not about details. A building is to convey the message, to provide the best form to do it, and still to have the message and a metaphor of its own.  Both overdoing and undergoing is very damaging in architecture, especially with regard to the buildings bearing such an extremely important public message as POLIN does. And of course, an architect working on a new building is looking also for his own creative sides of his future building, something that would bear an imprint of novelty and creativity. That’s why architecture is a very complex art” – prof. Rainer Mahlamäki in his conversation with Inna Rogatchi (C). 2024.

Prof. Mahlamäki leading his exclusive Author’s Tour at the celebrations of the POLIN’s 10th anniversary in Warsaw. October 2024. (C) LMA, POLIN.

“While working on the ( POLIN) project, I knew and realized that this museum will tell not only the story of Polish Jews, but also the story of the Jews in Europe, with those pivotal moments in it. I also knew that the museum will tell not only the history of Poland, but, crucially importantly, the history of Europe, and it will present it quite deeply. That understanding guided my approach. Since the very beginning, I knew that we were to create and to build a lighthouse. A lighthouse in the heart of Warsaw, in the heart of Poland, in the centre of Europe, which should attract all those people, including also the new generations, who would be interested to know how the history unfolded” – Prof. Rainer Mahlamäki in his conversation with Inna Rogatchi, for Special Project POLIN 10 (C), 2024.

Together with the splitting of the sea, as a core idea referring to a Jewish world and its values, a canyon  as a form came to my mind during my work on the POLIN building,  – famed architect reflects in the days of the celebration of the POLIN’s 10th anniversary. – I knew yet back in 2005 that for this kind of a lighthouse in the heart of Warsaw, for the modern time, and also thinking of the future, it has to be universal, both in meaning and in the form. The ( POLIN) building has  to be an abstract, non-figurative,  and most importantly, bearing a universal message” – prof. Rainer Mahlamäki in his conversations with Inna Rogatchi for the Special POLIN 10 project (C). 2024.

Special 10th Anniversary Essay was published in the Times of Israel, as well as in the leading American media, The JerUSAlem Connection Report. 

The full text of the special publication can be read here.

Prof. Rainer Mahlamäki with the Chairman of the Board of the POLIN Museum, legendary Holocaust survivor, writer and editor Marian Turski, at the celebrations of the POLIN’s 10th anniversary. Warsaw, Poland. October 2024. (C). LMA, POLIN.