O Muzeum Narodowym w Krakowie w czasie drugiej wojny światowej

Abstract

National Museum in Cracow during the World War II

A history of National Museum in Cracow, the oldest institution of this kind in Polish territory, during the World War II is not very well known. In Nazis’ occupation times the Museum was bear less than similar institutions in Warsaw and other Polish cities. This does not mean it had no loss at all. It has been calculated that, mainly because of a Nazis spoliation of works of art, about 10 percent of a collection forfeited. A loss would be probably more severe without generosity of a Museum staff headed by its director, Prof. Feliks Kopera, who made great effort to preserve the most precious works of art. Article depicts characteristics of Germans, who far before the outbreak of the World War II prepared a loot of treasures of Polish culture and consequently gained their goals in this field during the occupation. There is also information about most valuable and most wanted by Nazis works of art. The history of the Museum between 1939 and 1945 is depicted after research made in the National Museum in Cracow Archives.