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An international scholarly conference entitled "Martyrological Museums in a European perspective. Areas for experiencing and learning history" was ate highlight of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Museum at Majdanek It was held on 19-20 November at the Visitor Service Centre of the State Museum at Majdanek.

The conference was preceded by the official part.It was opened by a short film summarizing the foregoing activity of the Museum. The guests were welcomed by the director Tomasz Kranz, who described the functioning of the Museum from the perspective of its 70 years existence. The next speaker was Marian Starownik, the deputy Governor of Lublin province. An occasional letter of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Malgorzata Omilanowskahad been read. She wrote: "Today the State Museum at Majdanek is a cultural institution which, despite its nature, responds to the expectations of the contemporary audience, boldly using the latest technologies". The director of the State Museum at Majdanek received also congratulatory letters from Sławomir Sosnowski, the Marshal of the Lublin province; Krzysztof Żuk, the Mayor of Lublin; Halina Landecka, the Historic Preservation Officer of the Lublin province; Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska, the director of the Central Prisoner-Of-War Museum in Łambinowice-Opole; Tadeusz Skoczek, the director of the Museum of Independence; Zygmunt Nasalski, the director of the Lublin Museum; Insa Eschebach, the manager of the Ravensbrück Memorial Museum and Zdzisław Badio, the President of the Lublin branch of the Polish Association of the former Concentration Camp Prisoners. Finally, the deserved employees of the Museum received state awards: Grand Cross of the Order of Rebirth of Poland, Crosses of Merit, as well as the Medals for Long Service. The proceedings were divided into four sessions entitled as follows: Identity, Meaning, Transmission and Narrations. The specialists from Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, France and Poland took part in the proceedings. They focused on a museum, scientific, social and cultural function of martyrological museums in the process of presentation and representation of the past. It was possibleto apply the “double-voice formula” involving two presentations on the same topic, allowing to learn Polish and foreign reflection on key issues related to the activities of martyrological museums. An important part of the agenda were also panel discussions. The conference participants discussed the role of memory sites in the modern world and tried to define new tasks awaiting martyrological museums. In this context, the fact of passing on World War II witnesses had been repeatedly pointed out. Also the director of the Museum, Tomasz Kranz, referred to this issue: "Because of the war generation dusk, the museums in authentic historical sites gain new cultural meaning, of which the most important is the role of the so-called substitute witness". Speakers: Volkhard Knigge (Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora) Bogusław Szmygin (Lublin University of Technology, Antiques Restoration Faculty) Habbo Knoch (University of Cologne) Ljiljana Radonic (University of Vienna) Andrzej Stępnik (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, History Division) Robert Traba (Centre for Historical Research in Berlin, Polish Academy of Sciences) Anna Ziębińska-Witek (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Cultural Studies Division) Thomas Lutz (Stiftung Topographie des Terrors in Berlin) Günter Morsch (Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätten) Bertrand Perz (Gedenkstätte Mauthausen) Katarzyna Stec (Jagiellonian University) Participants of panel discussions: Dominique Trimbur (Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, Paris) Paweł Machcewicz (Museum of World War II) Jan Łazicki (Ministry of Culture and National Heritage) Detlef Garbe (Gedenkstätte Neuengamme) Anna Ziółkowska (Martyrological Museum in Żabikowo) Hans Wolfgang Kaiser (Gedenk- und Bildungsstätte Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz in Berlin) Vojtech Blodig (Památnik Terezin) The conference was held under the honour patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The media patronage over the event was provided by Polskie Radio, TVP Lublin and Kurier Lubelski.