Interview Directory 

DÜSSELDORF/IN FOCUS

Name: Jarosław Włodarczyk

Profession: Secretary General of the International Association of Press Clubs and Polish publicist

Mr Włodarczyk, how did this exhibition come about?

The curator of this exhibition, Ewa Meissner, realised in a discussion at the Polish Press Club that Polish photojournalists are the largest group of foreign correspondents in the war against Ukraine. We decided that it was necessary to collect and exhibit these works. In agreement with the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this exhibition is now being shown in over 40 countries. We receive new requests every day, and now i.e. Mexico wants to show it. It has just been shown in Vietnam and Cuba, places where we never expected the war against Ukraine to be shown. We are very happy that this exhibition can now be seen in Düsseldorf and this is the premiere presentation in Germany. More are planned.

‘It was about showing the impact on people, why Ukraine is still fighting, resisting, and what people's lives are like after the Russian aggression.’

AM: How did you put the images together?

JW: From thousands of images, we selected the best photojournalistic work that didn't just show a war as a conflict on the battle line. It was about showing the impact on people, why Ukraine is still fighting, resisting and what people's lives are like after the Russian aggression. The touching text about the exhibition was written by the famous Polish journalist Magdalena Rigamonti. At the same time, we observe that this war is making less of an impression on us, and the audience knows less and less about it. It may be a terrible, but true comparison: it's like watching the fourth season on Netflix - there's no such interest anymore. And we want to change that too. To remind what's happening here and now.

‘We show the stupidity of war that costs human lives.’

The pictures are not full of aggression, blood or victims. We don't show direct aggression, but we show the stupidity of war, which costs human lives.

I cite as an example the abduction of over 20,000 Ukrainian children by the Russians. They have kidnapped them and offer them on websites for adoption in Russia. This is what Vladimir Putin was indicted for as a war criminal by the Criminal Court in The Hague. We need to think about how the peace process will allow these children to return to their parents. 

„In the age of disinformation, we have the eyewitnesses, journalists who risk their lives.“

AM: How did the name of the exhibition come about?

JW: In the exhibition we talk about war, but we also talk about journalism. ‘Eyes of War’ are the eyes of journalists. In the age of disinformation, we have eyewitnesses, the journalists who risk their lives. The pictures cannot show the full view, but what is seen in these pictures is 100% true. It's about journalism, stories, telling the truth, eyewitnessing and all of that is combined in this exhibition.

AM: Is there a particular photo that you would like to emphasise with readers? 

JW: A photograph shows the face of a beautiful girl under the rubble of the building. It was taken by Wojciech Grzędziński. Somewhere in Ukraine there was a pizzeria where all the journalists and the international community came together, ate pizza and chatted. Every war has such centres for the international press.

‘The purpose was to eliminate civilians in the pizzeria, shot down by Russian missiles.’

Then the Russian bomb hit this pizzeria and the girl, the waitress, lay in the rubble. The author of the picture almost died too, because a concrete block landed less than half a metre from his face. 13 people died in the pizzeria that day. The girl was the waitress of the restaurant and everyone knew her. Thank God she was saved. So there is a human happy ending.

But this picture is socially realistic, like earthquake pictures on TV where people are rescued from the rubble of the building. But in this case it was not an earthquake. The purpose was the elimination of civilians in the pizzeria, shot down by Russian missiles.

‘This exhibition is not about war, it's about the stupidity of war and the stupidity of what Russia is doing.’

The other picture I would like to emphasise is the one of the three running girls. This picture has won several international awards, including UNICEF Photo of the Year 2023. Surrealistically, it seems to show a happy childhood, a girl riding a bicycle for the first time. But behind this field, there is a smoke. This smoke could come from a fire, but no, it comes from a Russian missile. A wonderful childhood can be destroyed in a second by a crazy war. It is sometimes thought to be a photomontage because it seems impossible. But it is true, because we know this journalist and a whole story. The picture shows the absoluteness of war.

The decision of a man who lives in the Kremlin brutally destroys the childhood of these three girls, of the whole nation, of the whole of Europe. That is why we chose this picture, because it is not a typical war picture. This exhibition is not about war, it's about the stupidity of war and the stupidity of what Russia is doing.

‘Journalists die almost every day around the world to protect the truth, in the name of the truth and to tell the story to other people.’

AM: Your photographers risk their lives every day.

JW: If you want to tell a story about the war, you can't sit in your office from Warsaw, Düsseldorf or Paris and report on the war. When we get pictures from social media, we can't trust them. Maybe they come from the Ukrainian or Russian army or Russian trolls, maybe it's AI. As in previous decades, journalists risk their lives. Journalists are dying almost every day all over the world to protect the truth, in the name of truth and to tell the story to other people.

AM: What is the mood among your compatriots with regard to the conflict? And what do you wish for? 

JW: Not everyone wants to believe that the Russians will come to Poland, Germany, France or Slovakia. But if we let them, they will come.

The whole history of Russia is a history of conquests and wars. In the 20th century alone, Russia started 19 wars. In 1920 they attacked Poland, later Finland, then together with Germany they started the Second World War. In the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Stalin and Hitler divided Poland in half. There was a joint march, the parade of Russian soldiers and Wehrmacht soldiers in the city of Brześć in 1939. Then the Russians attacked Afghanistan, Moldova, Georgia, Chechnya and others. Aggression, rape, robbing other countries, other people, slavery. And what we got back from Russia was almost nothing. Some culture, ballets, the great Russian literature like Dostoevsky or Tolstoy, but it's about Russian imperialism.

In their genotype, they hate other nations, because they feel privileged. This is the reason why the flare-up of a real war could come to the Nordic countries, the Baltic states and Poland. We have to realise that three years ago Russia attacked a democratic and sovereign country. It was not a perfect country, but it was a normal, independent country. And they attacked without any reason. And why? Because they feel it's their territory. Just like the Russians believe that East Germany is their territory. I wouldn't say they will come to Düsseldorf, but why not Berlin? It's part of the former Soviet Union area of ​​influence.

Estonian intelligence and the CIA have recently published reports that 80% of the world's disinformation comes from Russia, such as anti-vaccine, climate change denial and other conspiracy theories. Nobody but Russia does that. That's pretty amazing. People in Poland, Germany and Ukraine want to live a normal life. But that's not Russia's style. Russia's style is to create aggression.

‘The fact that Merz understands this is a sign of hope. A light in the tunnel that war will not come.’

Personally, I am happy about Merz's plan to invest in Germany's development, especially in the army. It's the only way to protect us from the crazy Russian political elites. That Merz understands this is a sign of hope. A light in the tunnel that war will not come.

‘For me, as a personal experience, it is important because it shows me that I was always on the right side, on the side of the truth of humanity.’

AM: What significance does this exhibition have in your entire career? 

I have been working as a journalist since I was 17. I am also Secretary General of the International Association of Press Clubs and deal with over 50 press clubs every day, from New Zealand to the USA, from Africa to Europe and the Middle East to Japan. And the wars are happening somewhere almost every day. But this war is the war closest to Poland.

The war against Ukraine has changed our lives. For me, as a personal experience, it is important because it shows me that I am on the right side, on the side of the truth of humanity.

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