A frequently quoted sentence by the Kyiv-born writer Mikhail Bulgakov, according to which “manuscripts do not burn”, i.e. they are immortal, is unfortunately only true in a figurative sense.
Therefore, Poland helps Ukraine in the war to protect cultural assets from destruction.
Culture Minister Piotr Gliński said on Polish television that a working group had been set up shortly before the outbreak of war.
A destruction of the heritage of multicultural Ukraine will be a great loss for humanity.
Gerhard Gnauck
Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.
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A total of around 2000 fire extinguishers, 450 bales of non-combustible mineral wool, 500 fire blankets and other material are to be sent to various regions of Ukraine.
Poland also keeps storage areas free in case Ukraine wants to move cultural assets abroad, Gliński said.
But that must be a "sovereign decision of the Ukrainian state".
The Warsaw Uprising Museum in Poland, which is a leading participant in the actions, fears that Moscow's view that Ukraine does not exist as an independent nation could lead to the targeted destruction of cultural assets.
Meanwhile, a “Cultural Heritage Rescue Center” has been set up in Ukraine.
Natalia Filewytsch from the Nahirnyj cultural foundation in Lviv told the FAZ that many church windows in her city are already covered with special foil to protect them from explosions.
Sculptures were packed and taken to the basement.
“Our cultural assets have always been threatened in wars.
Enemy forces attacking you want to destroy everything you feel you belong to," says Filewytsch.
A relocation of cultural assets abroad is "not up to date".
This issue is considered particularly sensitive in Galicia because, after the border shifts and expulsions of the twentieth century, Ukraine and Poland long held equal claims to the region's heritage.