Due to its venue - the municipal museum, telling the story of the people in the coastal, port space in a kind of "locus amoenus" - this version of the exhibition in Gdynia has a completely different character than its previous editions at the memorial museum - the former Stutthof concentration camp. The earth hid testimonies of the past for many years, revealing during the exploration works monuments that were, as we museum workers from places of memory refer to, “shouting”.
The symbolic exhibit of the exhibition is a simple aluminium spoon deeply rooted in the roots of a tree. An everyday object, so ordinary, has acquired here the power of memory, its disappearance, but also restoration. The major assumption of the exhibition is to present archaeological finds that are testimonies of terror. This perspective outlines the nature of the exhibition as a form of reporting. Given the co-operation with cultural institutions of a historical, artistic and archaeological nature, it is necessary, due to the various perceptions of specific recipients, to prepare the visitor for the brutality of the narrative. The content is not alien to martyrdom museums, their employees and visitors, however, because it is a daily form of communication.
Over 300 objects presented at the exhibition in Gdynia constitute a small part of the archaeological collection obtained during the exploration works. Personal items, camp numbers, fragments of children and adults' leather shoes, wooden soles of prisoners’ shoes, items made by prisoners (both legal and illegal), isolators, canteen kitchenware, as well as equipment from the SS offices which are tangible testimonies of the suffering are a difficult subject for visitors. Therefore, the exposition is annotated with comments in the form of an introduction to issues relating to the concentration camp, exploration works, their specificity and problems, as well as vital cooperation between institutions, thanks to which it was possible to implement the research. The key part was to lend “human faces” to the presented objects. We decided to leave out the issues of origin, religion, nation, sexual orientation, reasons for deportation to the camp. We focused on people, victims, without division except for division in the context of gender and age - women, men and children. We presented the part testifying to the executioners in a minimal form; the assumption was to present the victims since the largest group of finds directly testified about them. Additionally, a part of the narrative referred to the first arrests in Gdynia and the neighbours of the modern inhabitants - guests of the Museum of the City of Gdynia. The arrangement of the exhibition in the exhibition hall isolated from public access is intended to prepare tourists for the presentation of a difficult topic. The darkening of the room, the monuments emerging out of the dark encourage reflection and calm; it is a metaphorical transition from the illuminated earthly life to the testimonies of the past.
All photos in the article - Stutthof Memorial