WWII museum previews pride of collection

Miniature plastic figures sculpted from toothbrushes by inmates of the Nazi German concentration camp of Ravensbruck. Photo: PAP/Adam Warzawa

Some 30,000 objects have already been gathered for the museum, and journalists were given a glimpse of some of the most precious pieces in a sneak preview on Tuesday evening.

The collection takes in such unusual artefacts as miniature sculptures carved from toothbrushes by inmates at the Nazi German concentration camp in Ravensbruck (pictured above).

Photo: PAP/Adam Warzawa

Also included is a tray marked with a Star of David found amid the ruins of the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw, after the Nazis liquidated the area in May 1943 (pictured left).

Another invaluable exhibit is a sculpture of Christ that was shot by a Soviet soldier in a Silesian church in 1945. A large bullet-hole remains.

The firsts shots of World War II were fired at Gdansk (then the free city of Danzig) on 1 September 1939, when German warship the Schleswig-Holstein – technically on a courtesy visit – opened fire on the Polish garrison at the Westerplatte peninsula.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, himself from Gdansk, first presented the idea of building the museum in December 2007, and the project was given the green light the following year.

Although it was initially hoped that the museum would open its doors this year, at present, 2016 is considered to be a more realistic date. (nh)

Album created by a Polish inmate of an officers' POW camp in Murnau for his wife. Photo: PAP/Adam Warzawa