At the end of 2021, the Polonika Institute created an exhibition dedicated to the Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv. It aims to explain its history and highlight the distinguished Poles that were buried there. The exhibition travels through many places in Poland, and on June 27th it was moved to Niedzica Dam.
Baikove Cemetery was established in 1833 and was named after its owner, general Siergiej Baikov. The cemetery was first divided into four sections: Orthodox, Catholic, Jewish and Protestant, and each has a gate stylised as a chapel appropriate to each religion. The Catholic section is mostly taken by Polish people and there are about 600 of them. The oldest among them – from 1835 – belongs to Joanna Czekanowska. There are also burials of the soldiers of the 1stLegions Infantry Division, who died during the battles of Kyiv in 1920.
The exhibition “Necropolis on Baikove Hill. Polish Traces on the Kyiv Cemetery” was created by the Institute of National Heritage Abroad “Polonika” to bring up back the history of Poles who lived and were buried in Kyiv. It consists of 10 tables placed to resemble alleys in the necropolis. On the panels are both historic illustrations and modern-day photos of the cemetery taken by Norbert Piwowarczyk. The descriptions were done by art historian Bartłomiej Gutowski.
The exhibition was meant to be presented in Kyiv, however, the Russian invasion in February caused a change of plans. For now, it travels throughout Poland, now landing on the Niedzica Dam. It’s an outdoor free exhibition, so everyone’s welcome to see it.