Museum

A group of people on the road by the guard tower, with the Mausoleum Monument in the background
The State Museum at Majdanek was established on the former grounds of the German Nazi concentration camp, which operated on the outskirts of Lublin from October 1941 to July 1944. The memorial was established in November 1944, as the first museum commemorating the victims of World War II in Europe. The institution is subordinate directly to the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. It also protects the grounds of two former extermination camps, where as museum branches there operate the Museums and Memorials in Bełżec and Sobibór. As three museums operating within one institution they constitute a unique Triad of Remembrance.
The missions of the Museum is to is to cultivate the memory and promote historical education about the German occupation in the Lublin region during World War II, particularly by means of commemorating the victims, preserving the camp remnants, and documenting the history of the concentration camp at Majdanek and the death camps in Bełżec and Sobibór.

About the Museum

The Museum significantly evolved throughout the decades of its history. From an institution that struggled with collecting and securing the tangible traces of the past, towards facing new conservatory, exhibition, education, research, and publishing challenges. Our activities aim at preserving the victims’ memory, raising awareness about the Nazi crimes, and inspiring reflection that is fundamental for humanity values.

Drone photo, row of prison barracks with a group of people walking along a path next to one of them
Visitors at Majdanek's former prisoner field III
  • Prisoner cap with embroidered inscription: EWA

  • Soldier's uniform, cap with buckle, and long coat

  • Three metal bowls and wooden cutlery

  • Charcoal drawing of two wolves devouring a man

  • Buttons with inventory numbers attached to them arranged on a wooden board

Show collections
A bald, middle-aged man dressed in black stands in front of a group of people sitting in an auditorium, holding a copy of Varia magazine in his hands.

Support us

Donate

A bird’s-eye view. Barracks and the remains of former barracks. Green areas surrounding them.

Support our activities financially

Pass on a memento

A plush black mascot with long ears, next to it a small horse-like creature and an ivory elephant, surrounded by handwritten letters.

Our collection includes not only buildings and their equipment, prisoners' clothing and extermination tools. It also includes prisoners' personal belongings, drawings, secret correspondence, jewellery made in the camp and other seemingly ordinary items that often conceal unique stories.

Become a Volunteer

Two women stand in a room discussing a reproduction of a historical drawing. One of them points at the image while holding a clipboard, while the other presents a card with an illustration depicting a landscape or buildings.

Would you like to support us in our daily work? Get in touch with us.

Photo collage: the permanent exhibition at the Museum and Memorial in Sobibór, the site of the former German concentration camp at Majdanek, and the memorial site at the Museum and Memorial in Bełżec.

Pressroom

Contact the Department of Communication and External Relations and download press materials.

Contact

Contact the department that handles the part of our activitites you are interested in.