When Wrocław was designated European Capital of Culture for 2016, there was a desire to highlight the life and work of Cardinal Kominek, a founding father of Europe and a leading figure in German-Polish reconciliation. As well as charting the life of this exceptional man, this exhibition presents various other examples of reconciliation efforts following the conflicts that have marked Europe’s recent history.

Although Bolesław Kominek is a largely unknown figure in European history, he was a true visionary when it came to mapping out Europe’s destiny in the second half of the 20th century. Indeed, in 1960s Poland, it took a visionary to imagine that the country would one day be integrated into Europe and the EEC. Yet that is just what Bolesław Kominek, Titular Archbishop of Wrocław, did, driven by his conviction that “nationalism is something of the past; the future lies in Europe”.

The exhibition is divided into three parts, In the Shadow of Hitler: 1939-1945, In the Shadow of Stalin: 1945-1956, and Towards Reconciliation: 1956-1974, which provide context by succinctly describing the events that moulded the history of German-Polish relations and Europe itself before, during and after the Second World War.

The exhibition revolves around Cardinal Kominek, who went from experiencing Europe’s history under Nazi, then Communist, dictatorship to shaping and influencing that same history. As visitors move through the circuit and learn more about his life, they gradually come to understand more about his role as a pioneering visionary of the European project.

The exhibition premiered in the Vatican and will go on to tour other major European cities.