Marta Cienkowska made the remarks on Wednesday at the Between Life and Death: Stories of Rescue During the Holocaust exhibition showcasing stories of Holocaust survivors and rescuers from 13 European countries.
"We are living in a time when the world seems extraordinarily unstable," Cienkowska said.
"Principles once considered inviolable are now being questioned. International law is being broken. Civilians are becoming targets. The language of dehumanisation is returning," she added.
She stressed the importance of passing on Holocaust memory to future generations, particularly as the number of living survivors dwindles.
Organisers say the exhibition pays tribute to those who chose to help persecuted Jews during World War II, despite the threat of imprisonment, deportation or death.
By combining the stories of rescuers and survivors, the exhibition shows the complexity of human relations under the extreme and varied circumstances of the war, according to the Polish Cultural Institute in New York.
It features testimony from 84-year-old Elżbieta Ficowska, a Holocaust survivor saved by Poles during the war.
"I am living proof that the Holocaust happened and that I survived it," she told the opening ceremony.
Poland's UN ambassador Krzysztof Szczerski highlighted the scale of Polish rescue efforts during the German occupation, noting that over 7,000 Poles have been recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Israel's Yad Vashem memorial institution – the largest national group.
The exhibition includes profiles of diplomats who saved Jewish lives, including Aleksander Ładoś, the Polish envoy to Switzerland who issued false passports to Jews fleeing persecution.
Part of the Holocaust and the UN Outreach Programme, the exhibition will continue touring internationally, organisers said.
(ał/gs)
Source: PAP, Polish Cultural Institute New York