Curated by Anna Brzezińska and Katarzyna Madoń-Mitzner, the photographs showcased in the exhibition come from the Polish Press Agency archives. The Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera is the partner of the exhibition.
The exhibition is part of the WARSAW REBORN. REPORTAGE PHOTOGRAPHY 1945–1949 program organized by the History Meeting House in honor of the 80th anniversary of the commencement of the reconstruction of Warsaw and will be on display from September 25th, 2025, until February 22nd, 2026, at the History Meeting House at 20 Karowa St. in Warsaw, Poland.
Warsaw expert Ryszard Mączewski penned the detailed descriptions of the photographs; Katarzyna Godyń-Skoczylas is behind the exhibition design; and Kuba Maria Mazurkiewicz is responsible for the visual identity of the exhibition. The album accompanying the exhibition was created by Anna Brzezińska and Katarzyna Madoń-Mitzner, and designed by Barabasz Opałka. The second, expanded edition of the book “Warsaw Anew: Press Photography, 1945–1949” will be available at the DSH Bookstore from September 25th.
WARSAW REBORN. REPORTAGE PHOTOGRAPHY 1945–1949
– The exhibition is made up of several dozen photographs of Warsaw from the second half of the 1940s. They were taken by young photojournalists from various agencies, which were operating immediately after World War II – Jerzy Baranowski, Stanisław Dąbrowiecki, Wojciech Kondracki, Jan Tymiński, Stanisław Urbanowicz, and Zdzisław Wdowiński, as well as cameramen Wiktor Janik and Karol Szczeciński. Unfortunately, today we do not know the authors behind some of the photographs.
These photographs show the city being rebuilt, but, at the same time, the rebuilding of life after the trauma of World War II. They let us look at that time and Warsaw today in a different light. The citizens of the capital coped with an extremely difficult reality and tried to live normally under abnormal conditions, and did so with extraordinary vitality and energy, explains Katarzyna Madoń-Mitzner, exhibition curator. – There was a kind of positive madness in the decision to rebuild [Poland’s] capital from its ruins, a collective enthusiasm in defiance of reality and the political situation. You can feel it when you look at these photos, at the faces of the people, at the rebirth of city life. The enthusiasm and energy are contagious.
Warsaw was the most heavily damaged of all European capitals. As a result of the war, approximately 84% of the buildings on the left bank of the city were destroyed, including 90% of industrial and historic buildings and approximately 72% of all residential buildings. The rubble covered an area of roughly 20 million cubic meters.
The photographers captured the moment residents returned to the capital, life in the ruins, and the arduous reconstruction of their city with an extraordinary tact and sensitivity. The photographs showcased in the album and the exhibition help us understand the unique character and history of the city of Warsaw, and the enormous communal effort that went into raising the city from the ruins. Frames of the wasteland left of what was the Warsaw Ghetto, contrast starkly with the newly built Mariensztat housing estate; shots of poverty and sadness, with street games and dancing. Children run around in the ruins of the Old Town, while women hang laundry out to dry. It is a moving collective portrait of people building a city on rubble. The story is not so much about rebuilding a city as it is about rebuilding life.
The photographers were professionals who were extremely committed to their work. Their photographs are of the highest standard, both in terms of technique and content; each one is perfectly framed and composed. They not only serve as documentation, but are also beautiful, emotionally-charged humanistic photography. Thanks to the fact that they survived, today we can feel the incredible spirit of the city and its inhabitants at the time, says Anna Brzezińska, exhibition curator.
WARSAW REBORN
A week before the official opening of the exhibition, on September 19th, 2025, History Meeting House and Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera invite you to a preview of selected photos from the WARSAW REBORN. REPORTAGE PHOTOGRAPHY 1945–1949 exhibition at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, at 1 Teatralny Square (Plac Teatralny 1) in Warsaw. The exhibition accompanies the premiere and performances of The Best City in the World: An Opera about Warsaw, directed by Barbara Wiśniewska. The photographs, selected by curators Katarzyna Madoń-Mitzner and Anna Brzezińska, will be on display in the lower foyer of the Teatr Wielki (in the ticketed area) from September 19th to October 31st. The exhibition in the main hall consists of 20 photographs of Warsaw taken by young photojournalists from various photographic agencies, which were operating immediately after World War II – Jerzy Baranowski, Stanisław Dąbrowiecki, and Zdzisław Wdowiński.
The WARSAW: A NEW BEGINNING and WARSAW REBORN exhibitions presented at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera are a symbolic summary of years of work by curators Anna Brzezińska and Katarzyna Madoń-Mitzner with photographs from the Polish Press Agency archives from 1945-49. The first exhibition on this subject was shown at the History Meeting House back in 2007. It is worth mentioning that the previous edition of the exhibition WARSAW REBORN, curated by Katarzyna Madoń-Mitzner and Anna Brzezińska, opened to the public on March 17th, 2020. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a larger audience from viewing the exhibition. After five years, we return to this extraordinary visual story about life during Warsaw’s rebirth.
WE ARE BUILDING OUR NEW HOME
In honor of the 80th anniversary of the commencement of the reconstruction of Warsaw, the History Meeting House (Dom Spotkań z Historią, DSH) has prepared a special program highlighting the unique spirit of the time, taking into account both primary sources and substantive findings concerning the reconstruction of Warsaw, which have been made public over the last dozen or so years. The program also aims to introduce previously unknown audiovisual materials (including testimonies from the DSH Oral History Archive).
Deputy Director Piotr Jakubowski is the main coordinator of the History Meeting House’s WE ARE BUILDING OUR NEW HOME program. The program includes, among others, BUILDING A NEW HOME: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF WARSAW 1945–1952 (September–November 2025) outdoor exhibition; the WARSAW REBORN. REPORTAGE PHOTOGRAPHY 1945–1949 temporary exhibition (September 2025–February 2026); the premiere of new, extended editions of the albums BUILDING A NEW HOME: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF WARSAW IN 1945–1952 and WARSAW REBORN. PRESS PHOTOGRAPHY 1945–1949; guided tours with leading Warsaw experts Jerzy S. Majewski and Tomasz Markiewicz, highlighting the most interesting, lesser-known locations related to the reconstruction of the city, in the series WE ARE BUILDING OUR NEW HOME: UNKNOWN STORIES; as well as the online series THURSDAYS WITH THE RECONSTRUCTION OF WARSAW, running from March to December 2025, and presented on the social media channels of the History Meeting House and Kulturalna Warszawa (City of Warsaw).
History Meeting House’s WE ARE BUILDING OUR NEW HOME program is part of the cultural program initiated and financed by the City of Warsaw to mark the 80th anniversary of the commencement of the capital’s reconstruction. For more information, visit: dsh.waw.pl, kultura.um.warszawa.pl
