On the 26th anniversary of Poland’s entry into NATO, join us for a look at the new General Kuklinski Cold War Museum in Warsaw. The Museum explores the rivalry between the Eastern and Western blocs during the Cold War from a Polish perspective. As the British leader Winston Churchill said, it was in Szczecin where the Iron Curtain descended, and the Polish people found themselves on its eastern side. In Poland, Pope John Paul II and Solidarity emerged, alongside continued resistance to communism throughout the Cold War, and it was a Pole—Ryszard Kuklinski—who provided the Americans with key information about the Soviet Union and its strategy.
As an Army Colonel in 1972, Kuklinski volunteered to spy for the United States. His self-appointed mission: to undermine the Warsaw Pact's plans for a nuclear offensive on western Europe. For the next nine years of high-risk, clandestine exchanges he helped do just that: covertly copying tens of thousands of secret documents and passing them to the CIA—including plans to crush the Solidarity movement. Guests who register for the event will receive a short video tour of the new Museum in advance. For the live program, museum director Filip Frackowiak, will discuss the focus of the museum’s coverage, how the museum began, its unique and meaningful location, and why Professor Zbig Brzezinski called Kuklinski the first Polish officer in NATO.
Following the program, you can ask your questions about the Cold War, the museum, and Kuklinski.
In collaboration with The General Kuklinski Cold War Museum and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland.
