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In May 2024, at first glance, it seems difficult to imagine a less favorable international context for celebrating the 20th anniversary of Poland's membership in the EU than the conditions still prevailing just beyond the eastern borders of both the EU and Poland. The ongoing full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, which has been raging for over two years, and the troubling political developments in Georgia under Russian influence, provide an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the European integration process for Poland – and vice versa.

Looking back to Poland's accession to the EU in May 2004, it is important to remember that this moment marked both an end and a beginning. It effectively closed the so-called post-communist period, during which Poles – along with Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Slovenians, and later Bulgarians and Romanians who joined the Union three years later – underwent a deep political, economic, and social transformation that enabled them to join the common market and community formed over half a century earlier during the Cold War's geopolitical division of the European continent. In this context, the frequently cited phrase "return to Europe," as seen on the cover of the May 1, 2004 issue of the weekly magazine Polityka (no. 18 (2450)), aptly reflected the satisfaction of many Poles with the achievements of the few years that had passed since the start of the systemic transformation in 1989.

Read more: 20 Years of Poland in the European Union: A Different Perspective on the "Return to Europe"

A conference preceding the official opening of the exhibition '1939-1945: Years that Changed the World' took place in Krzyżowa on 19 April 2024. The exhibition was specifically designed for schoolchildren and teachers and tells the story of the causes, course and long-term consequences of the Second World War. It presents these events in the broadest possible context and from different perspectives. So that it is comprehensible not only to a Polish audience, but also to people from other countries who visit Krzyżowa.

The exhibition consists of two parts. The first presents the origins and course of the Second World War, the differences between occupation policies in the West and East of Europe, and shows what resistance looked like in different European countries - including the activities of the anti-Nazi opposition in Germany. The second part of the exhibition discusses the key issues necessary for understanding history and its consequences. As well as showing the mechanisms of hatred that led to the Holocaust, the different attitudes displayed by people who experienced the war and occupation and the differences in Polish and German memories of the war are discussed. The exhibition also addresses the contemporary consequences of the Second World War - from conflicts in Africa, genocide in the former Yugoslavia, to Russia's criminal attack on Ukraine.

Read more: The conference and the opening ceremony of the outdoor exhibition "1939-1945: Years that Changed...

It's hard to believe that this terrible war has been going on for two years already. And it's hard to believe how much we have already become accustomed to it, how much we have gotten used to it. At the beginning, the sea of death, misfortune, suffering, and tears, but also heroism, sacrifice, and solidarity, made a huge impression on us. We were shocked. We rushed into the whirlwind of aid. We protested. Now it has all become a bit indifferent to us. Our zeal to help has cooled a bit. We are tired, preoccupied with other problems.

This is exactly what the aggressors are counting on. They have not become indifferent and they have not tired. They continue to attack. They are convinced that the support and solidarity of the West have reached their limits and that the weakening, bleeding Ukraine will eventually fall prey to them.

On this 731st day of the war, we appeal to ourselves and to you, our Friends, people who are close to the values of Krzyżowa:

Ukraine still needs our help and our solidarity. Let us not allow indifference to prevail in us. We have the right to feel tired, but we do not have the right to give in to this fatigue. The heroic defense of Ukrainian women and men, their commitment to freedom, and their determination to become part of a united Europe, confirm how important our values are – freedom, democracy, the rule of law, the European community. Let us remember that today their defense is taking place in Ukraine. If Ukraine loses, we all lose.

Read more: Statement of the Board of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe on the...

Professor Waldemar Czachur, after nearly two terms of chairing the Foundation Council, has decided to resign from the position of chairman. We warmly thank Professor Czachur for his contribution to the development of our organization so far and look forward to more years of cooperation, this time as a member of the Foundation Council.

On November 18, 2023, a new Presidium of the Foundation Council was elected. Ole Jantschek was elected as the new chairman, and Dorota Nahrebecka-Sobota as the vice-chairwoman.

Get to know them better.

Read more: Conversation with the new Presidium of the Foundation Council