Location: Main Hangar
The exhibition was organised to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of one of the most important aviation institutions of the interwar period. The League of Air Defence (Liga Obrony Powietrznej Panstwa), from 1928 the League of Air and Gas Defence (Liga Obrony Powietrznej i Przeciwgazowej — L.O.P.P.), was the largest paramilitary organisation in the history of Poland, with 2 million members in 1939.
The L.O.P.P. was involved in the broad development and promotion of aviation — it built airfields, training centres, parachute towers and model-making workshops, organised competitions, published materials, and also funded the purchase of aviation equipment, scientific research, and trained the population for defence against air and chemical attacks.
As part of the exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the L.O.P.P., we presented the League’s achievements in the development of Polish aviation and — to a lesser extent — the preparation of the civilian population for anti-aircraft and gas defence. These two main areas of L.O.P.P. activity were presented against the backdrop of a large-scale propaganda campaign characterised by evocative slogans and graphics prepared by outstanding pre-war journalists and illustrators.
The exhibition featured items from our own collections as well as loans from the Air Force Museum in Deblin, the Museum of Krakow, and private individuals. The displayed objects and content were complemented by film material provided by the National Film Archive — Audiovisual Institute.
Exhibition curator: Ewa Cuber-Strutynska
Project team: Jaroslaw Dobrzynski — author of texts
Piotr Wilk, Aleksandra Blachnicka, Mateusz Tulodziecki, Piotr Kolasinski, Blazej Mludzik, Pawel Rokicki, Szymon Pstrus, Radoslaw Stempinski, Dariusz Rutkowski — exhibition preparation
Drukarnia MK s.c. — graphic design and production
