Udział Muzeum Narodowego w dziele ratowania Zamku Królewskiego w Warszawie

The a u th o r, who fo r se v e ra l decades is k e ep in g th e po st of d ire c to r of th e N a tio n a l Museum, W a rsaw, h ad his a c tiv e p a r t in s a fe g u a rd in g of collections once housed in th e Royal Castle. On th e o u tb re a k of th e Second World War b o th fu ll o u tf it a n d collections r e m a in ed in th e ir o rig in a l p la c e s a n d only on S e p tem b e r 6, 1939 w h en th e m em b e rs of Po lish g o v e rnm e n t an d adm in is tra tio n w e re le a v in g th e c a p ita l th e ir moet v a lu ab le p o rtio n s h av e b e en removed. D u rin g th e siege of W arsaw, i.e. u n til S e p tem b e r 28, 1939 th e Royal Castle as an in v a lu a b le m o n um en t of th e Polish cu ltu re was used n o r a s a m ilita ry s tro n g hold n e ith e r as sto rin g p la c e fo r m ilita ry e q u ipm en t, weapons or amm u n itio n . Ev en th a t fa c t, h owever, did not p re v e n t th e nazi troops from h e av y b om b a rdm en ts b o th from a ir an d by a rtille ry an d th e Castle sh a re d th e fa te s of th e o th e r W a rs aw ’s „m ilita ry ” ta rg e ts th e list of whom w a s composed of ch u rch e s, mu seums, schools an d hospitals. In S e p tem b e r 1939 a g re a t d e a l of e ffo rts a im ed a t sa feg u a rd in g of c u ltu ra l p ro p e r ty bein g th e n a tio n ’s h is to ric a l m o n um en ts w e re sh a re d by th e employees of th e N a tio n a l Museum in th is city. When on S e p tem b e r 17, 1939 th e b u ild in g w a s s e t in fire as a re s u lt of one of consecutive b om b a rdm e n ts to its re scu e w e n t th e w o rk in g te am s from th e N a tio n a l Museum a c tin g side by side w ith fire -b rig a d e s a n d th e h u n d re d s of civ ilian s from th e Old Town q u a rte r. S te fa n S ta r z y ń ski, th e n th e Mayor of W a rsaw s e n t a gro u p of tru c k s fo r tra n sp o rta tio n of collections p re s e rv e d from th e b u rn in g Castle. S ta rtin g from th e day of fire u n til th a t on w h ich th e nazi tro o p s e n te re d th e s tre e ts of W a rsaw e v e ry n ig h t an d day w e re tra n sp o rte d to th e M u seum ’s c e lla rs a ll re lic s h av in g an y h is to ric a l v a lu e — th e ro y a l th ro n e , p a in tin g s b y C a n a le tto an d M. Baccia re lli, th o se ad o rn in g th e K n ig h ts ’ Hall, a collection of p o rtra its of th e Polish K ings from th e Ma rb le S tu d y , th e bronze b u ste s a n d h e ad s, th e p a in tin g s of th e Polish an d foreign m a s te rs , th e scu lp tu re s , ta p e s trie s, fu rn itu r e pieces, p e n d u la a n d clocks, b ro n zes and sev e ra l specimens of d e co ra tiv e a rt. On S e p tem b e r 20 to e x te n d th e a ction c a rrie d o u t b y th e Museum an d to m ak e it more e ffe c tiv e th e Mayor o rd e red th e fo r ma tio n of sp ecial te am s e n tru s te d w ith th e ta sk of s a feg u a rd in g of h is to ric a l m o n um e n ts an d c u ltu ra l p ro p e rty . The collections rem o v ed from th e Castle w e re c a re fu lly h id d en in th e Museum. So, for ex am p le , th e ro y a l th ro n e w a s co v e red w ith h e ap s of b u ild in g w a ste s a n d d ebris w h e re it safely su rv iv ed th e whole p e rio d of nazi occupation an d th e Wa rsaw Up risin g in 1944. A t th e en d of Octo b er 1939, w h e n th e h ig h e s t nazi a u th o ritie s mad e a decision to en tire ly d e stro y W a rs aw ’s Royal Castle an u n d e rg ro u n d gro u p of n e a rly a dozen Po lish a r t h is to ria n s an d a rc h ite c ts decided to u n d e rta k e th e s a feg u a rd in g of th e most v a lu a b le e le m en ts of in te rio r d e co ra tio n s as th e p la fo n d s, f ire - p la c e s, doorways, scu lp tu re s a n d wainscots. They also in ten d e d to p re p a re th e sam p le cu ts an d sections of a rc h ite c tu ra l d e ta ils an d d e co ra tio n s as, fo r in s tan c e , th e cornices, stuccos, m u ra l p a in tin g s , to h av e p re s e rv ed th e m a te ria ls allowin g th e fu tu re re co n s tru c tio n . With th a t ta sk was e n tru s te d th e d ire c to r of th e N a tio n a l Museum, an d a lre a d y on November 5, 1939 th e s trip p in g h a s begun. The most complicated w o rk p ro v ed to be th e sa feg u a rd in g of a r c h ite c tu ra l fra gm en ts an d sc u lp tu re s ad o rn in g th e e lev a tio n s. The la rg e -siz ed stone blocks w e re h ew n o u t an d rem o v ed w h ich th e d an g e ro u s w o rk w a s su p p o rted by tam p e re d w ith o ffic ia l documents, of w hom th e tw o rep ro d u c ed h e re a re th e mo st convincing witnesses. In th e ir deep b e lie f th a t th e Royal Castle w ill be r e b u ilt in p o s t-w a r tim e s th e m em b e rs of th a t illegally o p e ra tin g te am c a re fu lly collected an d p re s e rv e d th e re sp e c tiv e d o cum en ta ry m a te ria ls as p lan s , d e sc rip tions or p h o to g rap h s. F u rth e rm o re , all m e a su re s ta k e n by nazi oc cu p an ts w e re co n stan tly w a tc h e d w ith th e aim in view th a t th e ro b b ed c u ltu ra l p ro p e rty could b e tra c ed more ea sily in p ro p e r time. In 1939 a n d in la te r y e a rs th e d e ta iled in v e n to rie s of th e all sa feg u a rd ed ob je c ts w e re p re p a re d an d w h e n e v e r th e po ssib ilities ex is ted th e y w e re su b je c ted to re s to ra tio n an d co n serv atio n . A p a r t of th e p re s e rv e d collections from W a rs aw ’s Royal Castle w a s d isp la y ed in e x h ib itio n title d „Warsaw a c cu ses” w h ich was in a u g u ra te d on May 3, 1945. The most v a lu a b le pieces w e re shown once ag a in in ex h ib itio n th a t w a s opened to p ublic on March 1, 1971. All th ey , owing to ex c ep tio n a l co u rag e a n d sacrificies of man y common people h av e su rv iv ed in w a r d is a ste rs an d a lre a d y in a few y e a rs w ill be p la c ed b a ck in W a rs aw ’s Royal Castle.