Poland is preparing to evacuate museum collections in case of an attack by Russia

The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland is preparing to evacuate the most valuable exhibits abroad in case of invasion by Russia.

This information was shared by culture minister Hanna Wróblewska in her interview with the Financial Times. According to Wróblewska, this plan is necessary because about thousand museums in Poland work under conditions of “theoretical safety” as a result of the Russian war in Ukraine.

Currently, the Polish Ministry of Culture is negotiating with authorities in other countries so their museums can receive exhibits from about 160 Polish institutions. The plan is to evacuate rare books, early printed works, artworks, sculptures, and musical instruments. The initiative also aims to involve private museums and galleries.

“The development of the plan is partly based on the experience Poland gained during the evacuation of Ukrainian cultural artifacts after the outbreak of the full-scale invasion. Some of these works are still under protection of the Polish state,” Wróblewska said.

The process of developing the plan is being coordinated by Maciej Matysiak, a former army colonel who was deputy head of Poland’s military counter-intelligence agency.

Wróblewska added that this initiative is included in the national security strategy of Donald Tusk’s administration, which focuses on enhancing border protection and increasing the Polish military’s personnel to 500,000 soldiers.

In March 2025, cultural activists, public organizations, and experts released an open letter to the Ukrainian Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, Mykola Tochytskyi, demanding the immediate evacuation of the state museum collection from the threatened regions of Ukraine.

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Main image: Hanna Wróblewska, Gov.pl

Copy editing: Ben Angel