The Museum and Memorial Site in Belzec is an institution directly subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The unit was established in December 2003 as the Museum-Memorial Site in Bełżec as a branch of the State Museum at Majdanek. Since 2018, the institution has been functioning as the “Museum and Memorial Site in Bełżec. The Nazi German Extermination Camp (1942–1943). Branch of the State Museum at Majdanek”.

In 1987, Miles Lerman, chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's governing board, appealed to the world for a duly commemoration of Jewish victims of the Third Reich. As a result, an agreement between the Polish government and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington was concluded in 1995.

In a competition held in 1997, a project prepared by a group of artists was selected: Andrzej Sołyga, Marcin Roszczyk, and Zdzisław Pidek. For artistic cooperation and project execution was responsible an architecture studio DDJM Biuro Architektoniczne. The authors of the Museum building and the project are architects Marek Dunikowski, Jarosław Kutniowski, Piotr Czerwiński and Piotr Uherek. Prof. Jan Grabacki was responsible for the structure. When the project was under implementation, the Polish government was represented by Andrzej Przewoźnik – the then Secretary of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom, while the American Jews were represented by Rabbi Andrew Baker – Director of International Jewish Affairs for the American Jewish Committee. In 2002, in accordance with the agreement with USHMM in Washington, he assumed responsibility for further construction works at the memorial site.

The official opening of the Museum - Memorial Site in Bełżec took place on June 3, 2004. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski, MPs, representatives of church authorities, members of diplomatic corps accredited in Poland, founders and representatives of Jewish communities from all over the world.

The main task of the monument is to pay homage to the Jews murdered here in accordance with the Jewish tradition. The main entrance to the cemetery has been located in the place where the siding was situated. The cemetery consists of two parts: the “Ramp” and the building of the Museum, both of which form a cemetery wall from the side of the gateway. The only way from the “Ramp” is the “Road” leading to the “Crevasse,” which resembles a crack in the ground. Those two elements create the “Crevasse – Road,” which cuts the ground in half and uncovers the hidden elevation of the ground, thus revealing the dimension of the crime. The soaring walls, which give the impression of immersing in the ground, render the horror of one of the biggest graves of the world. What forms the top of the “Crevasse – Road” is the granite wall, which contains an engraved quotation from the Book of Job. Together with stone plaques containing symbolic names of the victims, it forms “Ohel Niche,” which is a place of reflection on the tragedy of the people who died in the camp.

In the museum building there is an exhibition whose script was written by an international team of experts. The photos and audio-visual materials included in the permanent exhibition present the history of the camp and the German occupants’ extermination policy in the General Government.

The exhibition presents original camp relics found during archeological works. The relics have been transferred as a deposit by Council for the Protection of the Memory of Struggle and Martyrdom. The artistic side of the exhibition was prepared by Nizio Design International company, Warsaw in cooperation with Gallagher Associates, Bethesdy near Washington, the USA. Authors of the exhibition script: Michael Berenbaum – Los Angeles, the USA; Jerzy Halbersztadt – Warsaw, Poland; Robert Kuwałek – Lublin, Polska; Jacek Nowakowski – Washington, the USA.

The Museum also presents temporary photographic-documentary exhibitions borrowed or prepared by employees. Until now, the visitors could visit 13 of them.

The mission of the Museum is to cultivate the memory and promote historical education about the German occupation, particularly by means of commemorating the victims, preserving the relics and documenting the history of the death camp in Bełżec. Moreover the task of the Museum is to maintain proper order in the museum area and memorial site and the objects located there, responsibility for making the museum exhibition available, monitoring its technical condition and ensuring proper service to visitors, including running a kiosk with publishers. The Museum in Bełżec fulfils its tasks through cooperation with individual organizational units of the State Museum at Majdanek and through the performance of tasks assigned by the director.

The mission of the Museum is also fulfilled i.a. by the project: “Every victim has its own name,” which started in 2004. It aims at gathering information about the victims. The Museum employees write down and record witness accounts concerning the period of the German occupation in the context of Jews extermination, particularly those concerning the death camp in Bełżec.

In addition, the Museum’s activity concentrates on historical education and providing guide services. The main form of the education are museum classes, study stays, historical workshops for Polish, international and foreign groups, which are organized at the memorial site. The Museum cooperates with many schools, universities, museums, associations, other organizations and individuals from Poland and from abroad in its commemorative and educational activities.

The Museum and Memorial Site in Belzec until 2018 was visited by over 460 thousand people, including about 95 thousand from abroad.