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The State Museum at Majdanek is in possession of a very precious document. It’s a diary written by the former prisoner Jadwiga Ankiewicz who describes her 4-month stay in the camp when she was 17 years old.The museum lesson entitled “But a part of my heart stayed there, at Majdanek – the camp reality in Jadwiga Ankiewicz’s diary” is conducted on the basis of this historical source. On April 6, 2014, students of the Academic Sports High School took part in such classes.

The diary written by Jadwiga Ankiewicz let the students view the history of the former German concentration camp from the perspective of their peer. A quite detailed description of the camp reality encouraged particular groups of students to explore the questions of living conditions and work in the camp, groups of prisoners, female overseers and SS-officers, fight with bitter reality and extermination of Jews. The students could share the results of their work with their peers while visiting the grounds of the former camp. The classes finished by joint reflection upon the quotation from Jadwiga Ankiewicz’s journal: “But a part of my heart stayed there, at Majdanek.”