When we talk about Partition, the first name that comes to mind is India. But beyond India, there are other countries that have undergone partition or displacement. The people have faced the same trauma of leaving their known surroundings overnight which just a handful of objects. The people have felt the pain of losing everything they knew to be their world in seconds and moving over beyond borders to create a new identity. On top of that, they faced a lifelong pain of moving away from familiar sights, people, and harboring the hope of returning one day. The same sentiment is doing the rounds these days with Imtiaz Ali’s new movie Main Vaapas Aaunga. And while one appreciates the movie, here are five museums around the world that reflect the stories of many Jiya and Keenu.
Planning to visit Amritsar, Germany, Poland etc, then make a stop at some of the partition museums around the world. Many of these might not have a name which clearly spells out the horrors of partition, but their displays constitute the same.
The Indian sub-continent has seen not one but two partitions across its borders - the Punjab-Sindh-North-west frontier and the second partition in Bengal. The first museum dedicated to the 1947 Partition was established in Amritsar’s Town Hall. Notable displays include personal items of refugees, oral history, official documents, installations and more. One branch is also situated in Delhi. The Kolkata Partition Museum, on the other hand is all about the division between the East and West Bengal which is today Bengal and Bangladesh.
Offering deep personal narratives of how the Korean peninsula branched out into two distinct lands, this memorial is a remnant of families and individuals who still hope for unison. Exhibits include Korean War history, artefacts found around the border and more.
The Berlin Wall is also a page from history which talks about separation, identity loss, and uprooting. The Memorial displays how the Berlin Wall divided a single country into two halves. Sections of the actual wall, watchtower and exhibitions with personal objects from families or photographs attract visitors from far and wide. Although the Berlin Wall was brought down, the tragedy of the country while it was there cannot be disregarded. when in Germany, book a Berlin Wall Memorial Site walking tour so that you can experience the essence better.
One of the most overlooked yet deeply psychological impacts of Partition or displacement by war is upon the children. This museum discovers that very psychology through personal belongings and stories of these children who found themselves in the midst of the displacement and boundary shift of Yugoslavia.
This museum focuses on the displacement of the Jews after World War II from Poland. Apart from the displacement, it also talks about the life that the Jews had led for centuries before losing their very cultural existence to world politics.
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