understandable interpretation for visitors, while integrating them into the urban fabric.
Discussing various approaches used around the world, from leaving the ruins outdoors to securing them with a permanent structure, Professor Kobyliński drew attention to numerous European solutions that not only turn out to be ineffective, but may also accelerate the degradation of monuments. The solution suggested by Professor Kobyliński, which allows controlling environmental conditions and making Miła 18 available to visitors, is a full protective structure.
Later in the debate, the issue of understanding and interpretating the ruins and the resulting need for a thoughtful approach to planning the commemorative space in order to properly integrate it into the fabric of Warsaw, highlight the importance of the discovered basements as a fragment, a section of the underground city (and not a museum object) and place as great emphasis as possible on their educational potential, were raised.
Dr Eleonora Bergman, PhD, particularly emphasized the value of archaeological finds as a source of knowledge about the history of the Warsaw Ghetto, knowledge that is not common knowledge even among the inhabitants of Warsaw.
Dr Maria Ferenc, PhD, from the Jewish Historical Institute spoke about the tension between typicality and uniqueness of Miła 18, and the need to take this tension into account in the process of designing a memorial site, emphasizing the importance of context - both the historical context and the context provided by the space in which it is located.
Archaeological discoveries in Muranów, although unusual to observers, are not unique to the area. Almost everywhere in Muranów, wherever excavations would be carried out, perhaps similar relics would be found.
Professor Małgorzata Rozbicka from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Technology agreed with the importance of preserving the discovered basements at Miła 18 as a memorial site, emphasizing the need to properly present it with an architectural enclosure. She suggested that it should encourage passers-by to visit the space, without overwhelming it with its monumentality.
14
What’s next with Miła 18?
The archaeological research carried out in 2022 was a breakthrough moment: for the Museum, of course, but also - we deeply believe - for the whole of Warsaw. A fragment of the underground city, the basements of two tenement houses were discovered, and several thousand artifacts were excavated. Realizing the uniqueness of the place, the Museum decided not to bury the exposed basements temporarily and to take steps to preserve them and turn them into a memorial site, a material
testimony to the history and heritage of Warsaw Jews. Archaeological research at the former Miła 18 was carried out on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and at the same time when it was emphasized that the last witnesses of those events were passing away. The decision not to bury the excavation area is also related to the hope that it will be a kind of substitute witness, a permanent trace of the history of the city that no longer exists.