The last act to promote the Second Republic abroad began in 1939, specifically on the day of the 3rd of May Constitution Day. The Polish Pavilion at the World Exhibition in New York was intended to showcase the culture and technological sophistication of a country emerging from economic crisis. Paintings, furs, sculptures and even models of planes and trains were exhibited. All to show that Poland did not suddenly appear on the map after 1918, but had actually existed and functioned in its place for almost a thousand years. Particularly impressive must have been the metal tower under which the statue of Władysław Jagiełło with crossed swords was placed. Unfortunately, when the pavilion was dismantled in the spring of 1940, the country promoted by the exhibition ceased to exist.
The last exhibition of the future
In the second half of the 1930s, the United States, slowly emerging from the Great Depression, began to prepare for a world show of progress and prosperity. By 1935, the worst years of economic collapse were behind the US, but the crisis persisted and in some parts of the country the situation was dire. In time, New York recovered from the slump and the authorities, inspired by the success of the Chicago or Buffalo exhibitions, wanted their own World’s Fair.
The 486-acre Flushing Meadows Park was created on drained Queens wetlands. Planning began on the park’s leased land for the pavilions and attractions of the show, which was to take off in 1939. The legal and commercial processes to lease the land and raise funds for the exhibition were not straightforward. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia pledged to donate a few million for the exhibition, but it soon became apparent that such an undertaking required much more money. In 1936, the New York World’s Fair Corporation was established to oversee the work and promote the event worldwide. Thanks to the charisma of the well-known New York businessman and politician Grover Whalen, preparations gathered pace.
Robots and cigarettes
France was the first country to sign up for the exhibition, with other countries joining soon after. In the end, the exhibition featured pavilions from 62 countries, 35 states and more than 1,300 companies. Of course, the various pavilions opened on different days and months of the exhibition, and many attractions started operations with considerable delays. In the opening month, La Guardia began calling for help to finish construction, and thousands of workers, not just from the New York area, went to work.
The exhibition was opened by then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Interestingly, the royal couple from England also attended the opening. For the first time, large corporations such as Ford, Chrysler and Heinz presented their inventions at a world exhibition. The exhibitors wanted to show the world of the future, which manifested itself in high-speed trains (200 km/h), colour television, air conditioning, IBM calculators and robots. Of particular interest was the Moto-Man robot, able to walk, talk and, most importantly, smoke cigarettes.
Forty-five million people attended the exhibition, 15 million fewer than expected. Hosting such a huge event cost $156 million in those days, or more than $3.4 billion in today’s dollars. As you can guess, the 1939 New York World’s Fair was not a financial success; the real strength of the exhibition lay in its message.
Poland’s historical modernity
The Polish pavilion was opened on 3 May 1939 by Ambassador Count Jerzy Potocki. The ambassador was also accompanied at the opening ceremony by the Polish consul and exhibition commissioner Baron Stefan Ropp. Like other countries, Poland wanted to showcase its technological advancement and rich culture to the world, but it was difficult to ignore the appalling geopolitical situation in which the Second Republic found itself. The New York Times noted in its 4 May article that Count Potocki’s speech informed visitors of the possibility of war and assured them that Poland was ready to defend its territory. It is worth noting that such a strong emphasis by the Polish delegation on the historical message was an exception to other exhibitors.
The 1939 exhibition was a symbolic threshold between the old world and the futuristic era. For this reason, the Poles combined progress with history. An example of this thought is the monumental tower of the Polish pavilion rising 40 metres, which on the one hand marvelled at its height and modern openwork construction, and on the other referred to medieval defensive buildings. The metal tiles will resemble segments of armour for some, and geometric art déco design for others. Interestingly, the tower was empty inside.
An equestrian statue of King Władysław Jagiełło was placed at the foot of the metal structure. The sculpture’s author, Stanislaw Kazimierz Ostrowski, was a highly regarded sculptor responsible for, for example, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw. The king crosses two swords and raises them upwards, which, according to the Polish History Museum, may suggest a readiness to defend himself. The monument is also a reminder of Poland’s prowess in the Middle Ages.
The actual body of the pavilion was characterised by a modernist design that focused primarily on functionalism. The façade was laid out in bright cubes that corresponded with the slightly more varied tower. Although most of the façade was simple, the building featured decorated sections. The wings of the pavilion were decorated with simplified tile patterns and there was a decorative cornice above the side entrances.
A country of iron and antlers
The main room of the exhibition was the Hall of Honour, which presented both Poland’s cultural heritage and industrial issues. What immediately caught the eye was a series of paintings by the Brotherhood of St Luke, a grouping of figurative painters focusing on national and historical aspects. The idea for a collection of seven paintings introducing foreign viewers to Poland’s rich history originated with the government back in 1937. The St Luke’s painters were commissioned and created the two-metre wide paintings from morning to night. The series was painted with the utmost historical accuracy, and the authors used classical forms and vivid colours. Each of the 11 painters was responsible for a different element of the painting and in the end succeeded in depicting, among other things, the meeting between Bolesław Chrobry and Otto III in 1000, the Union of Lublin in 1569, the Battle of Vienna in 1683 or the Constitution of 3 May in 1791.
In addition to paintings, visitors could also admire a copy of a door from Gniezno Cathedral, banners, painted plates, folk costumes or a statue of Marshal Piłsudski. There was also an exhibition presenting hunting and folk art. In contrast to the wolf skin and deer antlers, the industrial hall exhibited Polish industrial machinery and provided information on the value of Polish timber, iron and coal. Of interest were models of Polish-designed aircraft and Pm36 trains with modern aerodynamic lagging.
The interiors of the pavilion alone spoke volumes about the intentions of the organisers. Most of the rooms featured classical elements such as columns, friezes or coffers but done in a modern style. One interesting section was the Member’s Room, which showcased Polish furniture and panelling made of precious black oak, sometimes referred to as Polish ebony.
The propaganda element was particularly evident in the numerous maps. In addition to cheerful cartographic images depicting the development of railways and industry, political and historical maps were also presented. A grotesque, richly decorated map of Polish hunting grounds was accompanied by a visual commentary on the political situation. According to the map, Poland was squeezed between armed Germans and rifle-measuring Soviets. Another important map was that by Bolesław Cybis, which depicted the great projects of the Second Republic, such as the Central Industrial District and Gdynia.
Young millennial
The almost 11,000 exhibits were meant to highlight Poland’s historical values, which were supposed to be new to the world at the time. Religious tolerance, democracy and the superiority of Polish values to the inhuman systems of the USSR and Germany were supposed to bring the Second Republic closer to the West. Emphasis was also placed on the link to Latin Christianity and the history of Poland’s almost 1,000 years of statehood. The pavilion was primarily intended to inform people abroad about the distinctive values of the country on the Vistula.
The second season of the exhibition lasted until the end of October 1940, but the Polish pavilion was closed in the spring. Towards the end, the pavilion functioned thanks to the support of the American Polish community, and the non-existent state could not, necessarily, finance the enterprise. The government in exile allowed Stefan Ropp to sell the exhibits, which could not return to the country anyway. The map of the hunting grounds proved to be a rightful grotesque, as a few months later the attack came from two directions, contrary to Marshal Piłsudski’s assumptions.
Many of the achievements on display suddenly ceased to have any greater significance. The aerodynamic train wrap was ripped off trains and then lost during the war. Of the lauded Polish aircraft, only the PZL 37 Łoś passed its combat test, while the rest of the air force was decimated. Finally, black oak cabinets such as those in the Brühl Palace were burned to the ground by the Germans.
An unimportant future without peace
A remnant of the pavilion can be admired today in Central Park. The Jagiello statue was donated to the city in 1945 and is now located in the eastern part of the park. It is also worth mentioning that a model of the pavilion appeared in the temporary exhibition ‘The Power of Stories’ at the Polish History Museum. A section of the exhibition, which runs until September 2024, presented an in-depth history of the pavilion and the paintings of the Lukas.
The 1939 New York World’s Fair began with the theme ‘The World of Tomorrow’ and ended with the slogan ‘Peace and Freedom’. The swift and tragic end of the Versailles order was obvious to some, surprising to others. Significantly, the unsettled situation simmering since the early 1930s was hidden under the carpet during the World Exhibition in New York. The world of the future was a world without World War II, an optimistic utopia. Such thinking should not come as a complete surprise, as even in Poland, in the last days of peace, life went on as normal, with the first civilian preparations taking place on 31 August. In contrast, shortly after the end of the exhibition, the Germans opened the camp at Auschwitz and the USSR began its atrocities at Katyn.
Source: MHP
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