back...Vernissage of the exhibition "They Will Drive Us Out and Kill Us. The Fate of the Children of the Zamość Region on the 80th Anniversary of the Zamość Operation"

“Once, a sick five-year-old boy was brought to the hospital. His mother by his side. He was already dying. The mother, I noticed, was restless and embarrassed to say that the child had not been baptised. Looking at the child, I saw that the boy was moribund but could not die. I took some water, baptised him and the child died so peacefully" – we read in the memoirs of Sister Stefania Fiodorczuk, who ministered in the orphanages for the Children of Zamość. Many similar testimonies are to be found on the boards of the latest exhibition of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism, titled “They Will Drive Us Out and Kill Us. The Fate of the Children of the Zamość Region on the 80^th Anniversary of the Zamość Operation".

On 10 August 2023, the Okno na Kulturę art gallery at 17 Krakowskie Przedmieście street hosted the vernissage of an exhibition "They Will Drive Us Out and Kill Us. The Fate of the Children of the Zamość Region on the 80^th Anniversary of the Zamość Operation”. The exhibition, prepared by the Museum's historians, is part of the celebrations marking the 80^th anniversary of the displacement of the Polish population living in the Zamość region.

- It is 80 years since the end of the Zamość Operation – the mass displacement of Polish citizens carried out by the German occupants from the Zamość region. It is estimated that of the 110,000 Poles displaced at that time, about 30,000 were children. Nearly 10,000 children died and almost 5,000 were subjected to Germanisation. It is to their memory that the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism has devoted its latest exhibition entitled "They Will Drive Us Out and Kill Us. The Fate of the Children of the Zamość Region on the 80^th Anniversary of the Zamość Operation”. By recalling documents, testimonies and photographs bearing witness to German atrocities in the Zamość region, the Museum's historians pay due tribute to the youngest victims of displacement in an effort to perpetuate the memory of their suffering and dramatic fate which made up one of the most tragic events of the Second World War," said Ireneusz Piotr Maj PhD, Director of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism.

The Museum's latest exhibition at the Warsaw gallery will be on open to the public until 1 September 2023.

The exhibition boards and catalogue were prepared in three languages: German, English and Ukrainian. Materials are available on the Museum's official website under the 'exhibition' tab. The sub-page can be accessed by a QR code located on the front board of the exhibition.