WARSAW (EJP)---A Jewish history museum, whose opening was twice postponed due to finance shortages, is set to open in Poland next year, following two large donations.

The Museum of the History of Polish Jews is now scheduled to open in Warsaw in Autumn 2013, it was confirmed by Poland’s Minister of Culture and Natural Heritage Bogdan Zdrojewski last week, following the completion of a multimedia exhibition that will focus on 1,000 years of Jewish history in Poland, taking in everything from the Middle Ages to the present day.

The Museum is the first public-private cultural institution in Poland created jointly by national and local government working together with a non-governmental organization.

The launch will coincide with the 70^th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. The museum itself will cost $70 million (€57 million) and its aim is to attract 1 million visitors each year.

One of the donors has been identified as the Koret Foundation, which seeks to engage global conversation on the nature of Jewish identity, as well as combating anti-Semitism and anti Israel activity.

The Foundation donated $3 million (€2.4 million) to the museum, which it said “addressed key initiatives of the Koret Foundation”, according to a statement by Koret board president Tad Taube.

The other key donor was Poland’s richest man, Jewish billionaire Jan Kulczyk, whose $6 million (€4.8 million) offering is a record contribution hitherto received by the project from a private donor.

In a statement confirming the gift, Kulczyk said: “Life is not just a business, not just economics. We must remember what was”.