Poland Plans Emergency Art Evacuation Amid Security Threat

Protecting Culture With Global Backing
The scaled-down evacuation plan calls for cooperation with foreign governments to temporarily house priceless works, including paintings, sculptures, rare books, and instruments, from about 160 state-run institutions. Private museums and galleries are also expected to participate.

The former army colonel and former deputy head of military counterintelligence, Maciej Matysiak, has been entrusted with the project. He currently is the head of the Ministry of Culture’s Security and Crisis Management Department.

Citing Poland’s experience helping Ukraine safeguard cultural property following the 2022 invasion of Russia, Wróblewska said the plan would incorporate revised documentation practices to assist recovery operations in the future. But not all collections can be removed, so choosing priority items was a huge challenge, she said.

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Other three Baltic countries — Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are also taking similar protection steps. These plans follow greater recognition of cultural risk in conflict and taking part in UNESCO-led training.

In Estonia last year, a three-day workshop brought together civilian and military officials to concentrate on the legal and logistical safeguards of protecting cultural property in conflict areas.

One example they considered was the historical evacuation of artworks during World War II; they also traveled to see the bombed-out St. Nicholas Church in Tallinn.

And Poland is still on a hunt to recover art looted during World War II. Only about 20 works are returned each year, mostly from Germany and the United States; many have never been found, Ms. Wróblewska said.