WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Officials say a museum on the history of Polish Jews has made huge strides toward its planned opening next year thanks to several million dollars in new donations announced this week.

The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, being built in the heart of the former Warsaw Ghetto, has received a joint $7 million donation from the Koret Foundation and the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture. Both are California-based philanthropies chaired by Tad Taube, a Polish-born American businessman.

Jan Kulczyk, a Polish oil tycoon, also announced a gift of 20 million Polish zlotys ($6 million) this week.

Museum officials hailed the gifts Wednesday as crucial to finishing the museum's permanent multimedia exhibition that will narrate 1,000 years of Jewish life in Poland.