Polish war museum opens amid its uncertain future

WARSAW, Poland — A major World War II museum has opened in northern Poland amid plans by the conservative government to change its content to fit its nationalist views.

The Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk was initiated in 2008 by then-Prime Minister Donald Tusk, as a project focused on the suffering of civilians in the global conflict.

But the current Law and Justice government, hostile to Tusk, wants to merge it with another museum and change its content to highlight Poland’s military effort in fighting the German Nazis. The case is to be decided by a court.

The museum’s director, Piotr Machcewicz, said at the ceremony Thursday the huge exhibition places Poland’s war experience at the centre of Europe’s and the world’s experiences.

War veterans and schoolchildren were its first visitors. — Postmedia wire services