It was the second edition of the Polish National Register of UNESCO’s Memory of the World, after it was inaugurated in 2014. The ceremony of giving the certificates – confirming each items’ place on the list – took place at the beginning of November 2016 in the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage Magdalena Gawin underlined that the UNESCO programme’s Memory of the World title does not suggest that Europe and the world should have some kind of single common memory. She said that: It would be a dangerous fiction. It’s not UNESCO’s ambition to create one model of memory. UNESCO’s big challenge is to create a resource of common values for Europeans and people from all over the world and to make it stronger. Among those values should be tolerance, respect for religion and for other people, and equality. Chairman of the Polish Committee of the UNESCO programme and general manager of the State Archives Wojciech Woźniak said that the documents honoured in the UNESCO programme are owned by our community, are part of the public good, and belong to everyone. He underlined that: They are not owned by the director of the archives, library, or the museum, but are the property of all society. They should constantly serve as a source of knowledge about the events and ideas which shaped Polish statehood. The president of the Polish National Committee for UNESCO and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee Professor Jacek Purchla said: Those objects are priceless testimony to the shaping and development of Polish statehood, the Polish nation, and Polish culture. The Secretary of State from the President’s Office Wojciech Kolarski read a letter from President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda addressed to the participants of the ceremony. The president wrote that: The UNESCO Memory of the World List familiarises and underlines the meaning of documents which show some of the most important events, people and civilisation changes in the history of our homeland (...). It must be also underlined that this documental heritage strengthens the cultural integrity of our nation and local communities in Poland. It restores or preserves the memory of the events, experiences, and achievements that built Polish identity in all its richness and diversity. After giving the certificates in the so-called Flag Room (Sala Chorągwiana) and the Main Hall of the Presidential Palace, an exhibition entitled Poland’s Memory (Pamięć Polski) presenting the historical treasures distinguished by the UNESCO programme was opened for visitors on 6th November 2016. Rocznik Świętokrzyski Dawny (the Ancient Świętokrzyski Annual) from 1120 or 1122, one of the most valuable documents concerning the history of the state, was added to the UNESCO list. It contains information about events from the first two centuries of Polish statehood (from 948 to 1119), including the marriage of Mieszko I and Dąbrówka, and the Baptism of Poland. Interestingly, the records up to the year 1000 were shifted one year by mistake. That way, the information about the Baptism of Mieszko I was accidentally recorded as an event from 967, not 966. The document is kept in the National Library. |